Immortal's Daughter
by Koomahana
Summary: No one was really prepared for the strength of a child born in the time of eclipse, not even the immortals knew what to do with her endless strength. She is not her father's daughter, she is her mother through and through.
1. Chapter 1

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 1: born in an eclipse

Koomahana

**Okay so... this is a one shot I have no intentions of continuing it, if you want to adopt go ahead!**

**Just give me a heads up okay?**

**Some editing has taken place**

**Some special details that I forgot to put in before posting were added at the end of 'five years'**

**Mizukikage (Mizuki—river, Kage—shadow, I just added them, sorry for the confusion) has been changed to Takakage**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are memories_

…

* * *

…

They had captured the woman months ago, finding her long crimson hair and jade eyes unique enough for their yearly gift, which could only be the most _perfect_ of gifts. Sometimes they held a gift for an entire year, keeping them in the best of health for the coming New Year but this year? This year they had found the perfect sacrifice an entire five months before the New Year, it wasn't hard to keep the woman compliant and in the best of health.

He couldn't hold back his smirk as he watched a few of their younger members march the woman towards the center of their great chamber, dressed in a forever elegant white dress as if it was the woman's wedding day. In a manner of speaking, it sort of was. The woman was going to be the New Year's gift to their master, deity, their god: the great and ever powerful Jashin-sama. As the woman neared he could see her raise her beautiful green eyes up to meet his in an almost curious manner, as if no one had bothered to tell her the reason for them taking her, and it was then that he saw that wonderful, large bulbous thing she called a stomach.

The woman was pregnant, two for the price of one! Oh~ Jashin-sama was going to be so pleased with them...

"What is this?" the woman asked softly, accepting his hand as she stepped up the stairs and turned to examine the hundreds in their underground congregation. "Where am I?"

"My name is Hiden," he answered with a smirk, gently pulling her towards the center of the large platform, ignoring the envious eyes of the hundreds around them, "And I will be your priest."

"Priest?" the woman murmured with a frown, following him calmly, as if she still didn't understand her situation, "Why do I need a priest?"

"You'll understand soon enough," Hiden answered, his smirk growing into a wide grin, his violet eyes dancing in the fire light that surrounded the platform. He led her to the center of the platform, sitting her down on the pillow stationed there for her comfort, not that she'll need it long. He gestured for one of the other followers to sit beside her, they didn't need her running away and getting hurt in the process, the final and yearly sacrifice has to be _perfect_ or they'll all get in trouble.

"Bring out the others!" Hiden ordered snapping around to watch the twenty other captives get led, pulled and dragged out from the doorway directly in front of them and led to the platform. He watched as each person was stationed around the platform, cut deeply so their blood would run into a current and poured into cups, the followers each grabbed a cup full of blood and walked away, already knowing what they would need to do.

"What is this?" he heard the woman asked softly, as if she was beginning to understand but wasn't liking what her eyes and mind were telling her.

"Everyone ready?!" he asked, turning in place to watch the seals drawn on the ground begin to glow a haunting crimson, "Drink up!" as one everyone slammed their cup's contents to the back of their throats and swallowed, "and cut up!"

Screams tore through the air making him laugh in glee as the twenty sacrifices crumbled to their knees in agony and pain; one particular scream was close enough to make him turn around curiously. Their final sacrifice seemed to be going into labor, a huge puddle of blood was forming under her as she screamed in pain, big fat tears rolled down her plump cheeks as she gripped at her stomach.

"She's going into labor!" one of women loyal to him shouted out, her dark eyes glinting brightly, "I give her an hour till the baby's out!"

"No!" the woman cried out, understanding and fear consuming her

"What shall we do, Ōji-sama?" another woman asked, pulling out a knife gracefully and eyeing the woman's large stomach hungrily. Hiden eyed the suck up curiously, yes he was Jashin-sama's favorite for he was the oldest member, the longest lived priest and the hardest to scratch member. No one could beat him a spar and anyone who bothered to challenge him to one always ended up as a sacrifice to their god.

"One hour?" He mused softly approaching and taking delight in the woman's pained, terrified face, "at the stroke of midnight eh?" he couldn't stop the chuckle that spilled passed his lips, "Hold up Kitties! We have a princess coming our way!" his voice echoed in the chamber, stilling the people as they turned to look at him curiously.

"No!" the woman cried out, her pretty features twisting in horror, "Stay away from her!"

"Jashin-sama has graced us with an heir!" Hiden cackled out, smiling pleasantly as his congregation cheered loudly, they all stood together when one of their women gave birth and the stood together to raise said child, like the family they never had.

"No!" she wailed, her cries going unheard by the lunatics surrounding her

"In one hour the moon shall be eclipsed," the suck-up giggled, sheathing her knife in her sleeve and turning to the panicked woman beside her, "so either way your child would have ended up as Jashin-sama's daughter, regardless of where you gave birth!" the woman's declaration made the floors shake with the loud cheering of the congregation, Hiden's smile widened further as he turned to address his followers again.

"To keep our master pleased we'll need to hold back our own thirst!" Hiden declared, "Let us kill our twenty slowly so that our Hime shall be born at the stroke of midnight and not a moment sooner!"

The earth shook and small rocks from above fell from the loud cheering, jumping, dancing, _Joy_ of his followers. After all the last child they had born on the stroke of midnight during an eclipse was himself and that was so long ago _he_ didn't even know how old he was, he just knew that he was the eldest and the most powerful in the congregation.

Hiden turned his bright amethyst eyes to the perfectly round hole high above him, eyes glinting in the star light, more then glad to see the edge of the moon high over head. In one hour, the moon would be perfectly overhead, soon after word the earth will eclipse the moon and they'll be given another like himself.

For he was Jashin-sama's son, now they will be given Jashin-sama's daughter

They just had to wait

…

* * *

…

He watched as the hour had passed, his eyes never falling from the night sky high over head, ignoring the crying of the dyeing around him, the cheering and laughter of his followers, the weeping of the woman in labor.

"She's ready!" the brown-eyed woman shouted excitedly

"No!" the red head cried out hysterically

"Five minutes!"

The congregation fell silent as the woman screamed out again, the moon shifting over head, it's light spilling into the canyon and alighting the massive seal etched into the platform in bright crimson.

"Three minutes!"

"Don't take her!" the woman wailed out, "Don't touch my baby!"

"She's not yours," Hiden grumbled to her disappointment, "She is Jashin-sama's dau—"

"She is _my_ daughter!" the woman wailed out, "She is the daughter of Mizumikage-sama!"

"Oh~ so you're from waterfall," Hiden smirked, crouching next to the woman as she panted and tried not to give birth yet unable to prevent her body from pushing her child out. "So am I, get it? We're from the same village! That means this was fated! Jashin-sama chose you to give birth to his daughter!"

"You're insane!" Hiden just laughed at her, throwing his head back and letting his voice echo back to the woman, it wasn't long before the congregation soon joined him.

"No!" a new voice screamed out, snapping around Hiden watched as two women held onto the last dyeing sacrifice, one staring up at the moon over head in terror and regret, the other was crouched over the man, palms glowing brightly as she tried to stabilize the man.

"What's going on?!" Hiden's voice bellowed out in fury, making the two women flinch

"We-we're sorry Ōji-sama!" the women stammered out

"B-but you said to leave one until the eclipse!" the woman with the green glowing palms said, pressing her hands into the man's chest and ignoring her panicked induced tears. Hiden's eyes snapped up to study the sky, panic filing him as he saw that the eclipse had yet to happen, another scream from the red haired woman said that she was about to give birth.

"The eclipse hasn't started yet," the other woman sniffled, "he-he j-just fe-ell o-over... we-we thought—"

"You can stop," Hiden said, his voice echoing in relief, "the eclipse has started." The two women cheered loudly and jerked away from the last sacrifice, letting his head crash to the stone platform harshly, his chakra flickering out almost instantly. Hiden glanced at the two women curiously, studying them carefully.

_Huh_, Hiden smirked and returned to watching the darkness crawl against the surface of the moon, the woman screaming in agony all the while. _Twins... maybe I'll play with them later..._

"One minute left!" the suck shouted out, as if in panic, her eyes snapping to look up at the moon, "... she's early..."

"What?" Hiden snapped around and moved towards them

"She's early," the other woman sobbed covering her face with her bloody hands, "Hime-sama will be born before the eclipse!" the woman smirked viciously up at him, as if proud that her daughter was going to prove herself that she wasn't 'Jashin-sama's' daughter.

"Ch," Hiden swiped out at the woman, cutting her deeply across her shoulder and face

"Ōji-sama!" the two women bellowed out in panic

"She can't push if she's knocked out," Hiden reasoned, "We just have to make sure Hime-sama isn't early, that's all."

"Ojo-sama! The moon!" someone in the crowed screamed out in panic, forcing the women and Hiden to look up, their eyes widening at the sight of the opening above. The moon was perfectly center, turning crimson as the earth's shadow consumed half of it's surface, making the crimson moon and shadow look like an eye, even more so with the hundreds of 'eyelashes' surrounding the mouth of the opening hundreds of feet overhead.

_Wait, eyelashes?_ Hiden stiffened and studied the image closely, his stomach twisting into knots uneasily

"How pretty," the woman whispered as if awed

"Jashin-sama is watching us," the suck up whispered with a smile

_Shit!_ Hiden's eyes widened as he realized that there was something very wrong with the 'eyelashes' "Shinobi!" Hiden bellowed out just as the 'eyelashes' began to fall towards them, "Protect Hime!" A scream from the back echoed around the room, Hiden snapped around and snarled at the sight of his 'followers' attaching some of the others, removing heads and limbs alike.

"Protect Hime!" Hiden bellowed out again, watching his congregation ready and fight the shinobi attaching them, one landed directly in front of him and he couldn't help the smirk twist at his face as the man straightened and addressed him first.

"Ah~ Takikage-sama really dose have a lover~" Hiden said mockingly, waving an arm out towards the red haired woman who let out another scream as her body forcefully pushed the child out from her body, "Did you come here for her?"

"She's my wife," the man snarled at him, "return her—_now_"

Hiden hummed as if in thought, before pulling his favorite weapon out and readying himself into a stance, "not going to happen."

He just had to stall enough for the full eclipse and then the birth of the child, his people can scatter and re-gather later. They'll raise their Hime in secret, away from the heathens who would try to taint her and control her.

"Protect Hime!" Hiden ordered, lunging forward and clearing the platform of the Heathens who tried to take the sacrifice and princess. His people gathered around the platform protectively, those few with medic knowledge clambering up to help with the birthing, others healing their stronger fighters to take out the intruders quicker. After ten minutes it almost looked like they were in the win; after fifteen minutes and the full eclipse fell over them, alighting the seal in crimson light before blackening, leaving the seal to scream and thrum around them hauntingly.

"Yes!" Hiden cackled, "We're on schedule!"

"No," the woman whimpered, "please... my baby... don't take her, don't take my baby..."

"Are you ready ladies?" Hiden asked, snapping around to turn to the two nursemaids, "how's she do'in?"

"She's ready," Suck-up giggled

"Push!" the other ordered, eyes sharp as she watched the waterfall shinobi charge at them again, trying to free the red head and child from their clap.

"No!" the woman shouted out, "You can't have her!"

"Push or you'll die!" the woman hissed at her, "Don't you want to hold your daughter?" the woman sniffed and what ever else she was thinking was interrupted by an ear-shattering scream, which earned a smirk from both women as they doubled back over the woman's legs and readied to receive the child. Hiden watched with a smirk on his face as the Takikage tried to barrel towards them but was pulled back by his men, who now pulled back to find another way at them. Hiden turned to watch the blacken moon, frowning as he saw that the eclipse would be ending soon, if they didn't hurry they'd have to kill the child for not being Jashin-sama's daughter.

"No~o!" the woman screamed out, another cry soon joining her own

"We've made it!" Suck-up shouted out as her friend pulled the child out with the placenta, Suck-up cutting the empirical cord with a swift movement of her knife. "It's a girl!"

"No," Hiden sighed, not noticing the horrified look the Suck-up gave him, "not quite"

"My baby," the woman coughed reaching for her child, "please, my baby"

"...She'll die anyways," the woman shrugged, placing the bloodied child into her mother's arms, pulling back as the woman laughed softly, holding her daughter tightly.

"Hi baby..." the woman cooed, giggling as the small child gripped her finger tightly, "I'm your mommy..."

"Rukia!" the Takikage shouted out desperately

"Ruia! NO!" the woman shouted at the same time, her eyes widening as Suck-up lunged forward with a knife in hand. The red haired woman snapped around, huddling herself protectively over her newly born child as Suck-up, Ruia, stabbed at her back desperately with tears of frustration and fury streaking her face.

"Sweet baby," Rukia whispered, ignoring the pain in her back and the woman pulled Ruia away from her, "my sweet little baby," the small child in front of her was almost as red as her hair, from her tiny clenched fists to the little tuff of hair on top of her head.

"My baby," Rukia sobbed, curling herself around her daughter, ignoring the screaming and shouting around her, knowing that if her husband couldn't save their daughter she would be raised by the monsters who kidnapped her. "Oh my baby," she won't let that happen, she'll die before she lets that happen... "My poor, poor baby..."

_I'll protect you_, Rukia thought focusing on what little of her chakra was left

_Always and forever,_ she could feel her chakra nature swirl around her protectively

_I'll protect you,_ if only she could find away to seal her love, her power, everything that she was into her daughter...

_I'll...always... pro... pro... protect... you..._

…

* * *

…

They were losing horrendously, his people were getting beheaded left and right and if he didn't do something they were going to be on the extinct list. Growling he napped around to face the curled up woman with her two, now dead, nursemaids and marched over quickly before one of the heaths could take the child. Dodging a blow to his head, Hiden quickly freed the man of his chest cavity as he moved; kicking the red head away from the child, he stared dumbly down at the crying new born. Her skin was as red as her mother's hair, covered in blood and slime from her birth... her mother's blood and possibly others was running into her mouth.

_Oh,_ Hiden though crouching lowly to examine the wailing child, _we weren't late after all..._

"Retreat!" Hiden ordered loudly, ripping off the woman's still clean white cape that had been pinned into place at her shoulders, "Everyone scatter! Jashin-sama will tell us where to gather!"

"Ōji-sama!" Hiden turned around just in time to see one of his followers block a strike from behind, using her own body to protect him.

"Quickly Ōji-sama get Hime out of here!" the woman's twin ordered as she readied her two swords before herself, seemingly unconcerned with her sister's death. Hiden rolled his eyes and gently wrapped up the tiny crying bundle and hurried from the room, the woman's voice echoing after him: "Protect Ōji-sama and Hime! No matter the cost!" His followers swarmed around him protectively, not wanting him to be forced to fight to protect the 'Hime'.

_Idiots_, Hiden thought as he ran with the screaming child in one arm and his weapon held in his other. Jashin-sama wouldn't be too happy that they all died trying to protect him, he can fight, but perhaps... perhaps Jashin-sama will forgive them for their stupidity for dyeing trying to protect his defenseless daughter?

…

* * *

…

A few hours later

…

* * *

…

She ran panting, stumbling slightly before continuing foreword, she didn't have much time before the woman she and her team came across with earlier noticed that her teammates was just a distraction. The woman's 'Ōji-sama' had given Takikage-sama's daughter to her protect while he dealt with the remaining army of waterfall ninja, her team had followed the woman relentlessly, eager to get further away from the lunatic before they tried to fight the woman. Unfortunately, it turned out the woman was one hell of a fighter, she hid the child at the base of a tree while she fought her teammates, now _she_ had stolen the child without the woman's notice and if she didn't hurry then she was going to end up dead. The psychopaths would destroy her home village if she went straight back, so she went south; crossing the border with fire easily, maybe she could distract and miss lead the woman?

Panting she skidded to a halt at the edge of a waterfall cliff, glaring at the hundred plus drop, she searched her surroundings carefully. Catching sight of something bright red on the ground, she snapped her eyes up to the source, only to stare dumbly at the bright red orb of the moon; like the curious eye of a predator, watching her for her next move.

…

"_Shhh, Hime you're safe now," the woman cooed with a found smile as she ran through the dark forest, "You are Jashin-sama's daughter, you have to be because you were born during the eclipse. The last person born during an eclipse was Ōji-sama and he's our strongest priest, so that means you're destined for greatness too."_

…

She fought back the tears as she stared up at the haunting crimson orb of the moon, watching the earth's shadow retract from it's surface slowly. Sobbing uncontrollably, she fell to her knees and cried, holding the silent baby to her chest as she realized what she would have to do. Regardless of who this child's parents were, she couldn't risk another monster like that woman's 'Ōji-sama', she couldn't risk this child being anything like that.

"Forgive me little one," she whispered setting the sleeping child down on the stretch of cold stone before her, the child instantly waking with a shrill scream. "But I can't risk it... I'm so sorry..." she drew out a kunai and readied it high over head, trying to ignore the tears that started to drip down her cheeks and splash against the child's wiggling limbs still wrapped tightly in the snowy cloth. "I can't risk it... forgive me!" she plunged her hand down, her kunai aiming true for the child's heart

"No!" she hissed as a shiriken scrapped against her hand, loosening her hold and as another knocked the kunai blade out of her hand and further out of her reach. "Don't do it miss! You'll regret it later!" she turned and glared at the approaching Anbu team hurrying towards her

"You don't understand!" she cried, pulling out another kunai and plunging it down quickly "She has to die!"

"Damn woman," she flinched, as one of the Anbu's appeared behind her, jerking her hand back before her blade could get too close to the child, "She's jut a baby!"

"She's a monster!" she sobbed, jerking on her arm desperately, "She has to die!"

"Look at her!" the man ordered, his voice echoing around them, "She's barely a day old! How the hell—_no!_" she winced as the man jerked her back all but throwing her away from the still crying child but he was too late, she added chakra to her kick. The baby's screaming was loud and shrill as it sailed through the air, dropping down the cliff face and covered by the waterfall's heavy mist.

"Damn you," he snarled, flipping her onto her stomach and tying her arms behind her tightly, "She was just a baby, why would you do that?"

"She's a monster," she sobbed in answer, "She was born on the eclipse, she's a monster." The man gritted his teeth as his teammates landed beside him, eagerly dragging the woman to her knees to face him properly.

"She just kicked her baby off the cliff," he said rubbing at his face beneath his mask

"No," the woman whimpered, "She's not mine..." the team stiffened at stared at her in shock, "That monster isn't mine."

"You kicked someone else's daughter off the cliff face?" he asked lowly, not quite believing the woman

"Yes," She whispered, "She is a monster... she needs to die..."

"I'm all for, what's the word? Not seeing her?" one of his men said, turning to look at him with hard crimson eyes, "I say she just so happened to cross our border with a child and they both conveniently... _disappeared_?"

"Fine but you two clean up the mess," he agreed, not even thinking about the suggestion, "Wolf with me, we've got a baby to find."

"Right," the young man sighed, walking with him to the cliff edge

"If you do find her please kill her," the woman said to them, watching the two men walk away from her. "She's a monster," the woman added almost desperately, "Don't think I did what I did because I wanted to, I did it because I _had_ too. That child was born during the eclipse, the last monster born during an eclipse is a lunatic running a massacring cult! If she's alive when you find her, promise me you'll kill her!"

"I make no promises... not to the likes of you," the man hissed at her

"If you find that child dead... then you already have," she replied, watching the two men jump over the edge and skid down the cliff face to the base.

…

* * *

…

After an hour of searching, they finally heard the soft crying that belonged to a baby, hurrying towards the sound both men skidded to a halt two hundred feet away from the base of the waterfall. High in a brightly colored cheery tree was a long white cloth tangled in the high branches, leaving it's wailing carriage to dangle a few feet below it. Sighing in relief they both hurried to the tall, ancient flowering tree; Wolf climbing high into the branches, eager to untangle the cloak that acted like a parasol for the child, giving the child a more or less safe landing in the tree, never letting go of the baby even as it loosened ever so gently around her.

"Careful now," he instructed, reaching out and carefully pulling the child to him as Wolf untangled the cloth over head, "I've got her, can't you just cut it?"

"I'm almost done," Wolf replied, he could almost imagine him rolling his coal black eye, "there!" the white cloth fell gracefully down from the branches, he eager jumped from the branch and gracefully placed the child on the ground, already moving to fix the child's wrapping.

"Wait, what is that?" Wolf asked, eyeing the mass of white cloth that his captain was trying to untangle

"Umm... I think it's a—oh" that was not a very good sounding 'oh' that was an 'I just saw something I wasn't supposed to' kind of 'oh'. His captain held the cloth up, showing that it was snowy white with little diamond decals around the edges and what appeared to be two golden clasps at the top of one end.

"Someone's cloak?" wolf asked with a pale face, knowing that the outfit that would have gone with the white piece of cloth would have been expensive and as such detailed the rich inheritance of the child they had just found alive.

"No I think it's someone's cape," he captain corrected, "A very expensive cape that belonged to a very wealthy woman... crap"

"...you think we just saved a nobleman's daughter?" Wolf asked curiously

"Daughter?" his captain asked dumbly, before looking down and in startled amazement said "Oh, daughter..."

"What are we going to do with her?" Wolf asked as his captain struggled to re-wrap the child with the cloak, using the golden pins to hold it in place this time.

"She was a kunochi!" both men looked up at the feminine voice calling out to them, "She was a kunochi from Hidden waterfall!"

"Not good," wolf murmured

"She was ordered to kill the girl," the their teammate said, sliding to a stop and panting heavily

"Yeah we get that now," their captain said, pulling the crying child into his arms and rising to his feet, "I wonder why they would kill her..." suddenly he remembered what the woman had said, about not wanting to but _needing_ to. "Who's the daimyo of waterfall country?" he asked suddenly, turning to his now regrouped teammates with wide eyes hidden by his mask

"A little old man with no wife or heir," his still silently fuming teammate grumbled lowly

"What about the Kage?" wolf asked curiously, "Who's the Kage of Waterfall?"

"A man who's pregnant wife was kidnapped several months ago," the woman said in realization, "She was never found..."

"That's what she meant by not wanting to but _having_ to," the captain sighed, "She's the Takikage's daughter..."

"The Takikage ordered his own child's death?" Wolf asked in bewilderment, "Why would he do that?"

"Because she was born during the eclipse," their captain answered with a heavy sigh, "no one really knows what the hidden waterfall people are like, especially not their belief system. It's possible that they kill any child born on a day or night that's considered unusual."

"Like during an eclipse?" wolf asked softly, obviously not wanting to believe in such a thing

"Yeah, just like an eclipse," he answered, his mask hiding his smile as the tiny girl quit crying hysterically to playing with his finger.

"What do we do with her captain?" The woman sighed and rubbed at her temple tiredly, "Do we just take her back to the village with us?"

"Yeah," Wolf spoke up, "We can raise her right, she's cute too so it shouldn't be long before she got adopted."

"...Let's have Lord Hokage decide that," he sighed turning and jumping into the tree's, his teammates close behind

"Hay, hay dose this mean we get to decide her name?" the woman asked curiously, excitement suddenly seeping through her system

"If lord Hokage lets us," her captain answered

"Why not Sakura?" Wolf asked, "We did find her in that cheery tree, it sounds rather fitting to me"

"Fitting in deed" he chuckled, glancing down at the child in his arms, who yawned and seemed to snuggle close to him, "Sakura... that's the perfect name for her..."

…

* * *

…

Five years later

…

* * *

…

He was the only member of his team left and he still checked in on that tiny child he saved so long ago every week like clockwork, eager to make sure she's happy and healthy. When they returned to the village and had her checked out, they discovered that the girl was still covered in her mother's blood. After a bath they found that she had pale pink hair that had been stained by her mother's blood, the reason they thought she was a red head. They each checked on her daily almost religiously, at least they did before the Kiyobi attach, his teammates died in that attach; he was the only one still around. So he kept up the tradition of visiting the hidden Hime, he couldn't see her everyday but he could see her weekly. After five years, the girl was still small but her eyes were bright and warm, her hair as bright as her namesake.

"Mommy! Daddy!" He watched as the pinkette shouted out cheerfully, running out of the academy with a paper in hand, "I got accepted! I'm in the shinobi academy!"

"Congratulations sweet heart!" the blond woman cheered, sweeping 'her' daughter into a tight hug. As he had predicted years before, it wasn't long before she was adopted, Mebuki Haruno was unable to produce children after a nasty poisoning incident when she was younger. After seeing Sakura in the hospital while looking for her husband just after the Kiyobi attach, Mebuki had immanently asked the nurse if she could hold the tiny toddler, after which she immanently ran to her husband's room and showed him the pink haired baby. After getting a scolding from the head nurse, the couple cheerfully said they would adopt Sakura, claiming that she had Kizashi's hair but Mebuki's eyes, she could truly be their daughter and no one would question it.

_They've raised you well_, he thought smiling fondly at the happy family as they walked back towards their home, _I hope you pass the academy and show your father just what kind of a mistake it was for him to throw you away._

The only concern he had was the little incident that happened the previous week with an older girl named Ami. Now he had arrived just in time to see that the older girl was yanking and pulling on little Sakura's hair, dragging the pinkette towards her two friends who were holding scissors and giggling loudly. He was about to interfere when suddenly a large burst of wind whipped around Sakura, ripping Ami's hand from her long pink locks and throwing the purple haired girl away from Sakura with a shrill streak. Sakura hadn't bothered to look or even wonder why Ami wasn't holding her by her hair anymore, she stumbled back onto her feet and ran away as fast as she could, the wind seemingly aiding her escape attempt.

He wasn't an idiot and he knew that there was something wrong with what had happened with Ami and Sakura, other then the bullying, wind didn't move like that. It didn't just burst into being and throw one child away from another like they were rag dolls, the wind moved on its own; often times taking the easier path to get to its final destination.

The wind didn't move to protect a little girl from bullies

The wind didn't help said little girl run through a busy crowd so she get back to her parents as soon as possible

The wind didn't move like that, it took the easiest path to get to it's destination

He had stalled in telling the Hokage right away about what he had seen that day, but as he watched the other children filter out of the academy to their respective guardians, he saw that the Hokage was there, smiling brightly as a familiar sacrifice ran straight into his waiting arms laughing loudly. He watched as the Hokage and the Jinchūriki spook for a moment before being interrupted by one of the academy testers, a solemn look on his face. he stiffened and watched them closely, eyes locked onto the little folder in the instructor's hands, a familiar name on the side of the file and when the Hokage opened the file, a familiar looking smiling girl was paper clipped on the inside.

He sat back against the base of his tree with a heavy sigh, someone else had to have seen what had happened last week, the look on the Hokage's face wasn't entirely pleasant looking. The instructor continued speaking softly, seemingly taking no notice of the little boy standing beside Hiruzen watching him with wrapped attention. The instructor pulled out two small pieces of paper and held them out to Hiruzen, he recognized the slips of paper instantly as chakra paper.

_This can't be good_, he thought watching the instructor continue to speak to Hiruzen as if in a mild panic about something, as if trying to make a case in a courtroom with Hiruzen as the judge and jury. Suddenly the little jinchūriki shouted something, his voice rising to draw attention to the instructor and Hokage, his voice carrying on the wind but not his words. He wanted to move closer and hear just what the little boy was shouting so heatedly at the instructor but Hiruzen was suddenly looking right at him and he knew that he'd have to speak to the man later that day.

…

* * *

…

A few hundred miles away

…

* * *

…

He paced back in forth in the ruins of his once hidden chamber; he was the last of his followers, the bones of his congregation crunched under his pacing feet as he tried to remember everything that happened five years before. The waterfall shinobi didn't have her, he already checked dozens of times over the years, so who would have her? His little follower was heading towards Mist when he departed with Jashin-sama's daughter but Mist didn't have her either. Where could she be? The only clue Jashin-sama had given him was that she was some place warm and bright, too bright for his influence to reach and too warm for even _him_—Jashin-sama's favorite—to find her.

At least he had another clue to finding the Hime, she had consumed a small portion of his blood before he passed her off to a woman, a way for him to find her, the only problem was being close enough; which meant that her bright crimson hair would have paled out slightly over the years. The only question remaining was, how much? Was it just a small fraction? Was it noticeable? Did she have white hair or red? Was it some weird half-and-half color? Did he not give her enough to look like him completely? Did she have his eyes? his skin? his personality?

By giving her some of his blood before they completely left the crimson light of the great seal insured that she was more then just his 'sister' she was more like _his_ daughter now. Did that mean she looked like him but acted like her mother? Just what was her mother like? He never bothered to ask her caretakers...

"Oi! Hiden you coming?!"

"Shut up Kakuso!" he snapped out irately, "I'm thinking here!"

"Careful that's dangerous," Kakuso replied blandly, black and red cloak swishing as he approached calmly, "You don't want to turn this dump into an even worse dump do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiden asked furiously

"Just thinking that if you over exert your brain cells that your head will explode"

"Die!"

He will find her because she was apart of him, she was his daughter

He just had to find her and pray to his master to find her in time before the next eclipse because if he doesn't find her before the next eclipse there was no telling what would happen, everything from the end of the world, his master's death, to the resurrection of the old gods could happen.

And all of it laid in his daughter's tiny palms

What a wonderful little thought...

If only it didn't mean that he'd be toast too

…

* * *

…

**If you want to adopt please give me a heads up so I can post a notice for the other readers**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticism****is**** lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to ****rate and ****review!**

**Page 16**


	2. Chapter 2

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 2: For a princess

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"You called for me Lord Hokage?" Hiruzen glanced at him through the window he faced, staring out at the seemingly innocently buzzing village he ruled over.

"Are you still visiting the girl?" Hiruzen asked calmly

"I watch from a distance," he confirmed, "not long and never during a mission."

"…I stopped to see where you live," Hiruzen sighed, placing his head against his fist, "You're not too far from little Sakura Haruno."

"No sir," he agreed softly, "After the Hyūga incident I thought it was best to be close just in case…"

"Uh-huh," Hiruzen didn't sound impressed, "You're the last of the team who found her. Why are you content to keep your distance? I would think that you'd want to teach the girl or at least make yourself a little more prominent in her life."

"…My occupation keeps me busy enough," he replied as calmly as he could, trying to ignore the led ball beginning to settle in his stomach and the quickening of his heart.

"I could always lessen your responsibility if you'd like," Hiruzen smiled amusedly at the window, not really looking at the young Anbu agent behind him. As expected the young man didn't answer him, choosing instead to stare silently out the window of the large office. "Her chakra was tested," Hiruzen said in a tone of disinterest, "She has two signatures."

"Two signatures?" he asked in surprise, "How is that possible?"

"The report your captain wrote and left behind before his death," Hiruzen sighed, "Said that the woman who was tasked with killing Sakura-chan had the distinct signature of copper and cotton. The second signature that I told you about? It feels more like fire and silk."

"…the chakra paper that the instructor brought out from the test for the academy," he said softly remembering what had happened the day before.

"Ah yes," Hiruzen sighed, closing his eyes, "Sakura had just taken the slip of paper when she got distracted. It was the split paper that alerted the proctor to Sakura's secondary chakra, he was able to activate his Byakugan in time to catch sight of the second signature." Hiruzen paused for a moment, locking his eyes onto the reflection of the young Anbu agent, "According to him, the second signature 'wakes up' only when Sakura is in danger or feeling emotionally distressed."

"Which means what sir?" he asked, tilting his masked head to the side, "that she has a bloodline?"

"If you call Air Natured chakra a bloodline then yes," Hiruzen agreed softly, purposefully lowering his voice so that only the young man could hear him. "According to the proctor, Sakura was distracted when she got the piece of paper; her chakra didn't even flair before it split. He activated his Byukkugan just in time to see that the secondary chakra seems to act only when Sakura is in danger or in emotional distress. So I had him 'double check' her chakra nature, just to make sure that it wasn't accidental leakage of her natural chakra."

"And what's the problem?" he questioned

"She has two natures," Hiruzen sighed, reaching over to pinch the bridge of his nose, "two common natures that are considered a bloodline when paired together." The agent tilted his head to the side, when Hiruzen didn't elaborate he calmly walked forward until he stood just a foot to Hiruzen's left.

"Earth and water," Hiruzen whispered, "…meaning little Sakura Haruno has wood release."

"And add that to the secondary signature of wind release…" he trailed off with slight frown twisting his hidden features and sounding in his voice. "That's also Ice release and… what element is created with the mixture of wind and earth release?"

"Not sure," Hiruzen answered softly, "Something incredibly rare though…"

"…Is this all for my next mission?" he asked, beginning to realize the reason for his presence in the office at the unholy hour of the morning, his connection to the girl, his home, his habitual observations—and his abilities.

"Yes…" Hiruzen answered his eyes narrowing out the window, "If you need your sempai's help you may enlist him on the mission as well. Just make sure he pays me a visit first."

"Understood sir," he kneeled beside Hiruzen, bowing his head in respect, leaning just that little bit closer to the old man

"Tenzou… you are to protect and teach Sakura Haruno _in secret_"

…

* * *

…

He watched as the Haruno's laughed together, the father lifting his daughter and spinning in placing; making the young girl squeal shrilly, her smile splitting her face in two. He was tempted to reveal himself so he could talk to the parents, tell him his reasoning for entering their life so unexpectedly, but he remembered Hiruzen's words just before he left the office; 'in secret' made things a little tricky.

Tricky—not imposable

_How should I introduce himself?_ Tenzou thought, leaning back in the tree he was hiding in, observing the happy family calmly. Sakura was officially eight years old two days ago, which made him exactly seven-teen years old, which made him nine years older than her. How was he supposed to teach her in secret? She's not overly trustful of strangers for the exception of teachers, she's wiry of most other kids her own age but seems to have a healthy respect for the older ones—that's it! To her, his current appearance be that of an adult so she'd be distant but not cautious. To gain her trust off the bat he'd have to make himself younger, closer to her age but not too close because then she'll just not trust him. So… he just had to use the transformation jutsu to make himself appear to be at least seven years younger; however that wouldn't explain his amount of skill and there was no way he could tell the girl his real name.

Sakura let out a delighted squeal, her laughter enough throughout the park as her mother calmly set out their lunch and her father joyfully tickled her. The loud laughter dew several people's attention, mostly shinobi families turned to look, many of the children were staring with wide eyes and mouths gap; like they had never seen anyone so joyfully loud. He even spotted a few clan kids, like the two heirs of the Uchiha clan, the heirs of the Yamanaka, Akimichi and Nara clans were standing with their mothers nearby, there were even a few Hyūga children watching the laughing Haruno family. Okay, he could use that, can't be that hard to pretend to be a clan kid.

"What are you doing Kohai?" he nearly jumped out of his skin with the soft voice of his sempai, he looked up at his superior and glared halfheartedly.

"That's not nice Sempai," he informed the gray haired man

"Now that doesn't sound like an answer to my question," the masked man seemed to smile down at him, "What are you doing stalking the Haruno family again?"

"I'm not stalking them," Tenzou sighed, pulling himself further out of view, "the girl is my mission."

"Oh?"

"Yes, she's been my mission since it was _my_ team who brought her in," Tenzou informed his Sempai, as if he was proud of the information.

"Ah," he sounded amused, "Is this a self-assigned mission or an official mission from lord Hokage?"

"Official," Tenzou pouted

"And what's got you so hung up in this tree looking like a stalker that you secretly are?" he asked in amusement

"I'm not a stalker!" Tenzou hissed, "My mission is to protect and teach her in secret!"

"Teach her?" he asked, Tenzou could imagine the older male raising one eyebrow in surprise, "Teach her what Kohai?" Tenzou sweated beneath his mask for a moment before the turned away to examine the family, double checking that they were still absorbed in their family day and not scouting their surroundings for suspicious persons. He could feel his Sempai's eyes on him; he even knew the exact moment his Sempai looked at the Haruno family before looking down at him again.

"Does she have one very rare Kekkei Genkai?" his refusal to look at his Sempai seemed to be answer enough, "Don't start on anything chakra related, it could damage her coils."

"I know," Tenzou replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm more worried about how I'm supposed to introduce myself to her life."

"You could always use a transformation jutsu," he suggested, "Someone around her age would be best"

"it would be if not for the fact that she's extremely wiry of anyone her age," Tenzou replied, "She's wiry of strangers but she's not distant with her teachers at the academy."

"So why not become an instructor at the academy?" he could hear the mockery in the older man's voice

"Because that involves other brats," Tenzou replied as calmly as he could, "_she_ is my main priority. No one else."

"…Still not fond of other kids are we?" he chuckled, not even flinching when the wooden kunai knife sailed inches past his head. "Now Kohai that wasn't very nice~" he reprimanded mockingly

"Whatever you say dog breath," Tenzou shot back without thinking, only to freeze in horror when he realized just what he had said. He could see the absolute statue still body of his superior, the way his eye seemed to gleam behind his bone mask of a snarling Canine, the slight tilt to his head that showed just how angry he was with the jab.

"Hmmm," Tenzou prepared himself for a quick retreat, no longer trusting the safety his superior often provided, "… see you later… little nymph." Tenzou prevented himself from screaming out at his Sempai, choosing instead to bite down on his hand while his superior flash stepped away.

…

* * *

…

A few months later

…

* * *

…

"Alright class we'll be having a very special test today," Sakura perked at the information, straitening in her seat as her eyes clued themselves to her Cerulean haired instructor. "It's a special test so no whining!" several students were already whining and hadn't stopped at his half-hearted order; Sakura remained as one of the few in class who remained silent.

"But we had a test yesterday!" one of the children whined, slumping over his desk

"This test is more like a request from Lord Hokage himself," Mizuki replied calmly, instantly silencing his students and gaining their undivided attention. "You see some other instructors have noticed some very special students in your year, some who can't progress without special attention, something most classes here at the academy can't provide. This test is to see who needs to be placed into this special class, do you all understand?"

"In other words if you pass the test you get stuck in a class with Naruto Uzumaki!" one girl jab loudly, implying the blond boy's lack of intelligence in regards to his paper tests—of course the class erupted into laughter at the blonde.

"That's not funny!" Naruto screamed shrilly, pointing at the purple haired girl in question, "Someday I'm going to be Hokage! Belief it! And when that happens you'll have to respect me because then I'll be somebody!"

"Now Ai that wasn't nice," Mizuki sighed as if disappointed, something that his laughing black eyes contradicted, "another way to look at this test is to see that people like Sasuke Uchiha are going to be placed in the same class. This class is less about your paper tests and more of a way to see if you have potential to be a shinobi. Think of it as advanced training to become a shinobi of the village, something all of you are working hard to become." Sakura carefully raised her hand, not sure if she should ask her question or if she should wait until after class to ask; as she often dose.

"Yes Haruno-san?" Mizuki asked, blinking and smiling at her, "What is your question?"

"Um… this class…" Sakura hesitated as she caught sight of Ami and her friends making rude gestures at her, "… will it, uh-um, he-help with our, um, in-individual skills and, uh, goals?"

"Yes," Mizuki smiled and nodded in agreement, "it will also help with your self-confidence—"

"Forehead girl doesn't have any confidence!" Ami pipped up rudely, "She doesn't have anything! Not even a brain! She's as stupid as she looks!" Sakura instantly shrunk into herself, looking like a tiny pink turtle in her large crimson shirt, her tiny fingers tightening on the beige strap of her school bag.

"Ami, what did I tell you about speaking without raising your hands?" Mizuki asked, placing one hand on his hip

"To not to," Ami huffed, folding herself over her desk and pouting slightly

"Please raise your hand the next time you have to say something," Mizuki sighed, shaking his head, "Anyways, this class is about individual skill so those of you from clans might not be able to get in either, understand?"

"Um sensei?" a boy in the pipped up, raising his hand for Mizuki to see, "if we don't make the test today, will there be another one to try again?"

"Yes Inuzuka-san," Mizuki answered, "The test will happen twice a year, one in the first trimester and one in the second trimester." They were already half way through the first trimester, so that meant the next test would be in two or three months from then, which meant plenty of time to grow and strive for their goals.

"Oh okay," the boy bobbed his head, "So… what's the test going to be on?"

"Everything," Mizuki sighed, "everything from your knowledge to your physical skill."

"Will there be any other techniques involved?" another boy asked, tilting his head to the side, "Like Taijutsu or ninjutsu?"

"I honestly don't know," Mizuki sighed, glancing up at the clock, "it's almost time for the test to start. I don't know how long it'll last but it's time for our turn to go. Everyone ready?"

"Yes sensei," the children didn't sound enthused as they each stood up with their bags strapped over their shoulders

"Alright, line up when I call your rows!" Mizuki instructed, taking his place beside the class door, "Row one, come on down."

…

* * *

…

"I can't belief you managed to pull this off," he hissed, glaring out the side of his eye at his superior

"Now, now Ototo, be nice in front of the children," the now blonde man seemed by far too amused with the situation then he should've been. Of course the situation was simple: his sempai was able to convince their Hokage to host a test that could be used to separate little Sakura-chan from the rest of the class so she could get special training from him; the down side was that anyone else who passed the test could get in on that training as well. So they intended to make it absolutely difficult but not so hard that their target couldn't pass either, they weren't about to fix it so that Sakura was the only one to pass the exam. Other students would need to pass as well, especially since she learned best when bouncing ideas off of other students.

"You do realize that you'll have to do _something_ right?" he asked, watching a new class slowly step forward with their instructor

"I am doing something," his superior commented dryly, "I'm observing"

"You're observing your porn," he shot back, only to flinch when someone cleared their throat. He turned around and stared bewildered at a surprised but not very approving chunin instructor, his pale blue hair was barely pulled back with his leaf headband. "…hello," he said, praying silently that the man hadn't heard what he said to his 'big brother'

"I take it you two are the Kazehitoha brothers?" the man asked

"Yes," he stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, "My name is Hotaru Kazehitoha and that moron is my big brother, Enrō Kazehitoha." His personal little jab at his Sempai, he'll have to correct it later but at least the man was paying attention to them.

"My name is Mizuki Shioha, it's nice to meet you both," Mizuki smiled, "Although I do have a request for the two of you."

"Hmm? What is it?" 'Hotaru' asked, staring at him with his wide green eyes

"Please reframe from saying such things like 'porn' and 'moron' it paints a bad picture for the children," Mizuki smiled, "the last thing I need is for my students to start mimicking you." Of course his 'brother' had to snort in amusement at him, believing that the jab was aimed completely at him. "That goes for you as well, Enrō-san. I don't need my students reading such… things. Please put that thing away."

"There's a genjutsu on it," 'Enrō' replied calmly, "I highly doubt any of your students can see through—"

"You seem to think that my all of my students are civilian born," Mizuki smiled patiently at him, "Almost all of them can see through Genjutsu, either from their parent's teachings or from their own remarkable intelligence. One my students can see through almost all low level genjutsu, its best not to make said student curious about what you're reading."

"Understood," 'Enrō' smiled stiffly, his teal eye turning to observe said 'curious' children, each watching them with varied amounts of Curiosity and… well one girl was looking at them in disgust but he had a feeling that was more to the fact that none of them were paying attention to her then that she could read the tittle of his book.

…

* * *

…

"Alright children listen up!" Mizuki called, drawing everyone's attention on to himself, "these two are the Kazehitoha brothers, Hotaru the youngest and Enrō the eldest."

"Ah before we continue let's get something cleared up first," the eye-patch wearing brother said as he stepped forward with a book in hand. "Ototo was pulling your leg when he called me Enrō; my name is actually Hikaru Kazehitoha."

"I like Enrō better!" one of the boys said loudly, throwing a fist in the air, "it means wolf!"

"Of course you would Inuzuka-san," Hikaru smiled at him, "doesn't mean I'm going to change it for your benefit." A few of the children giggled as the young brunet blushed five shades of red.

"Hay mister!" one of the other boys called, throwing one hand into the air, "Why do you have an eye patch?"

"Obviously because I lost my eye," Hikaru answered, his expression relaying his confusion at the question, having thought that it was obvious

"Did it hurt?" another asked, throwing his own hand into the air

"…yes," Hikaru answered slowly, turning slightly to look at Mizuki as if to ask a silent question

"Hay mister Kazehitoha!" a girl pipped up, "What are you reading?" Hotaru coughed heavily into his hand, trying hard to stifle his snickering. Meanwhile, 'Hiakru' was left alone, staring at the girl in a mixture of horror, surprise, and bewilderment—for once the famed genius was at a loss of words.

"Uh~" was Hikaru's brilliant response to the by-far too curious children

"It says 'Icha Icha P—"

"Back to the point at hand," Mizuki called, quickly interrupting the curious little pinkette who tried to read the cover. Hikaru quickly snapped his book shut and hid it in his back pouch; his adorable little brother thought it wise to continue 'coughing' at him. "These two are in charge of your test. You are to treat them the same way you treat me—with respect!" some of the girls shared amused smirks and a few of the boys snickered to themselves, overall, they didn't give a good impression to the two 'brothers'.

"I'm beginning to hate you for this," Hotaru murmured softly, watching how the children split up into groups, openly leaving out several other children to their own devises.

"You remember what lord Hokage said, didn't you?" Hikaru replied softly, "don't disappoint him."

…

"_Kakashi has a point Tenzou," Hiruzen said as he blew out a puff of smoke from his pip, "the best way for you to teach Sakura is for you to go undercover in the academy. Your plan might not have worked and if it did her parents would be suspicious of you; eventually they would bring it to my attention, where I would then be forced to inform them of everything."_

"_Yes sir," Tenzou sighed, bowing his head in submission to his request_

"_Furthermore," Hiruzen let his eyes slide over to Kakashi, "Kakashi… you'll be joining him. Especially since it's your idea."_

"_Huh?" Kakashi lowered his book to stare dumbly at Hiruzen, "Sorry Lord Hokage, what was that?"_

"_You'll use the names 'Kazehitoha'," Hiruzen continued, not showing any sign that he heard Kakashi, "the first names you'll have to come up with. Now then, go prepare yourself for your new students; I have to get in contact with the academy."_

"_Yes sir," Tenzou was smirking as he grabbed Kakashi by the caller and teleported them both out of the office_

…

"Now listen up children I'm only going to say this once," Hikaru smirked and stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention to him. "You'll all form a line, I will decide who starts first," no one was really paying much attention to him, they each got in their 'line' grouped up in three and four. Sakura stood at the very edge of the line, towards the back where she wouldn't be noticed. It was a good place to hide from people, people like Ami and her clique, as well as from strangers, who would focus more on the students at the front then the ones—

"Here's the front," Sakura blinked dumbly and looked up at the tall blonde man standing beside her, Hikaru smiled patiently down at her, "do you mind being first little blossom?" Sakura didn't bother glancing at the rest of her class mates, she could hear them snickering, whispering softly to each other. Sakura ducked her head and calmly took two steps away from the man, trying to hide behind her too long bangs.

"Perhaps… Ami should go first," Sakura whispered softly, backing away when Hikaru appeared beside her.

"Not a chance," Sakura jumped at the voice, she whipped around with wide eyes, staring up at the slightly shorter golden haired male. "We chose you missy, deal with it." Hotaru placed a soft hand on her shoulder, keeping her from retreating again, "Alright everyone, get lined up in front of these two." Sakura blinked dumbly behind her pink bangs, she carefully leaned forward and stared at the other kid Hotaru had a hand on. The blonde boy had leaned forward too and blinked dumbly right back at her, his blue eyes shining blindingly bright and the whisker-scares on his cheeks twisting as he smiled brightly at her. She recognized him instantly as Naruto Uzumaki, the boy everyone in her class hated—for no apparent reason.

"Alright everyone, listen up and keep silent!" Hikaru ordered, taking up Sakura's other side, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "you are to follow the person in front of you no matter what, understand?" everyone started complaining, the boys in their typical 'we're doomed' kind of fashion and the girls in their 'I'd rather die' kind of way.

"The race is simple," everyone perked at the word 'race', "the first team to get something from us wins the race."

…

* * *

…

He kicked a skeleton head across the cavern, glaring heatedly at the near perfect blackness of the once perfect hide-out from years ago. As usual, when they failed in one of their missions the white haired marron decided to come back here to sulk, walking its empty cavern like a ghost of one of the many remaining dead that littered the cavern floor.

"Why must we come here every time you fail in making a sacrifice?" He asked, glaring at the man who had long since removed his black crimson robe. "This place is a dump, why do you keep coming back?"

"Because my subjects might come back," Hidan replied courtly, for once not cursing as he usually does, "I'll need their F*** help to F**** find her…"

_So much for that peace_ "I thought you were sterile," Kakuzu drawled as he walked forward, ignoring the crunching of bones beneath his feet, "isn't that a thing with your… kind?" Kakuzu ducked just in time to avoid the blade aimed for his head, "you little bastard," Kakuzu hissed, glaring at Hidan as he kept walking, as if he didn't hear him.

_Great he's in one of those moods_, Kakuzu rolled his eyes and followed his teammate further down the hall, watching how more and more bones carefully revealed themselves to his sight. He stopped as he saw the stone hall reveal a large empty space with a skylight a hundred and fifty feet straight up, moss and ivy trickling down like hair. In the center of the cavern sat a tall pedestal, the very top resting about waist high on most men, circled to let the entire cavern see the very center. Kakuzu narrowed his eyes as he watched Hidan walk to the pedestal, calmly walk its edge until he came to some stairs where he climbed to the top silently. Kakuzu followed him up the stairs, trying to ignore the sharp feeling of bone shooting past his foot as he stepped on someone's ribcage before he reached the stairs.

_There are hundreds,_ Kakuzu thought as he stopped to study as much of the cavern as he could from his new vantage point, realizing just how large the caver was and that there wasn't a single inch of it that wasn't covered in the bones of the ones who once followed Hidan and his bazar faith.

"Five thousand, eight hundred and seventy-three," Hidan said, breaking his track of silence, "the highest number of followers we've had since its founding two centuries before my birth."

"…there are that many of idiots in the world?" Kakuzu asked with a lifted eyebrow, _that's the first sentence you've ever said without a curse word_

"I've been F*** around for so long that I F#$% no longer F#$% know how F*** old I am," Hidan continued, turning his face to look up at the skylight high overhead, "but I do F*** know that exactly F*** eight and half F*** years ago I was F***given a little sister, who was F*** turned into my daughter when she F*** swallowed my and her F*** mother's F*** blood." Kakuzu stiffened, his green eyes snapping to Hidan's still form for a moment, calm and calculative as he studied his partner. "I didn't F*** get to hold her for F*** five minutes before I F*** had to fight, the F*** woman couldn't even F**** protect her without F**** losing her to the _F***_ Takikage and his F*** little puppets."

"…that's why you keep coming back here," Kakuzu commented slowly, "you actually think that kid is yours… didn't you go through health class in your school?"

"My F****school was the F***battle field," Hidan rolled his eyes, snapping around to glare at Kakuzu, "If you F*** hate it here so F*** much why do you F*** follow me here?"

"I'm interested learning in how to kill you," Kakuzu shot back tonelessly

"You won't F*** find it here," Hidan drawled, "only Jashin-sama knows that one"

"Not even you know how to kill you?" Kakuzu asked, raising one eyebrow

"F**** will find her," Hidan replied, glaring up at the noon sun glaring down through the sky light, completely ignoring Kakuzu

"Not before I kill you," Kakuzu shot back in irritation

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticismis lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	3. Chapter 3

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 3: Difficulties of tests

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"What's the something we're supposed to get from you?" Naruto asked curiously, looking up at Hotaru with big blue eyes; Hotaru smiled and pulled out several large ribbons from his back pouch.

"These ribbons," Hikaru sighed as if he was expecting something different from his brother

"Better than flowers," Hotaru grumbled as he passed the blue ribbons over to his brother

"You're supposed to fight us to get the ribbons," Hikaru continued as if he didn't hear his brother, many of the children were protesting but it was as if the two brothers weren't listening. "No Whining," Hikaru ordered in boredom, "We're not going to go easy on you just because you're academy children. We need to weed out the stronger students for this advanced class, no unnecessary entrances."

"Yes sir," the children answered together, watching each brother tie the ribbons to their waists

"Good," Hotaru smirked at them, "Now, there are thirty students in your class. However, with only ten ribbons of blue and green and each one needing to be paired up; your thirty classmates will be decreased into ten passing classmates." With barely a few steps, both brothers were between the groups and pointing the split class in different directions, "That'll leave two people without a complete cell and one cell out of the race."

"That's if you decide to work by yourself," Hikaru added in slight boredom, waving at Sakura as her group started to slowly walk away. "If you decide to work in teams—"

"If we use Genin cells as an example," one boys from Naruto's group suggested, his features twisting into a frown

"Genin cells are with three Genin and one Jonin," the same blonde from Sakura's side informed everyone, her face twisting into irritation and consideration. "That means that with our thirty five numbers, only eleven teams will pass as a required cell, however there are only ten ribbons of each color…"

"Very perceptive you two," Hikaru chuckled, "you're very right. However it's not just your class participating in this test," several of the children straitened, their eyes widening slightly, "other classes are as well. Including your upper classmen and your underclassmen." Whispering erupted between the children, each of them beginning to panic in their own special way; they were no longer competing against each other but against everyone in the academy.

"The advanced class isn't anything to be sniffed at," Hotaru added patiently, "there can only be three graduates from each class and only nine from each year. Is that understood?"

"Hay Mister I have a question!" another boy shouted, waving one hand into the air, "is this a Boy's Verses Girl's race?" Mizuki slapped a hand to his face, a groan sounding in the back of his throat as if he couldn't belief what the boy had just said. There was one girl and one boy switched on each team but otherwise it was pretty evenly spaced with boys on one side and girls on the other.

"Hay why don't those two switch so that it'll truly be Boys Verses Girls?" a blonde girl from Sakura's side asked, clearly insulted by the boy's tone of voice. "Come on, what's the harm in that?" she asked, turning to look determinedly up at the two brothers; Mizuki groaned again, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "It'll be easier for you to grade us for this little test and easier to remember our names."

"Oh there's no need for that Yamanaka-san," Hikaru smiled patiently. "We only need to know the names of those who pass our test. Oh, that reminds me, have any of you been told the consequences of passing the test only to fail the next one?"

Various negatives had Hikaru and Hotaru smirking and chuckling evilly

"You fail the second test and you fail the academy," Hikaru answered, seemingly taking in great delight the resulting horrified faces given to him

"Once you pass the test you must continue passing," Hotaru agreed, "You can always up your grade from the others who pass with you, the higher your grade the more secure your station."

"…With the consequences that high, what makes you guys think any of us wish to continue this little game of yours?" the same sleepy-eyed boy from before asked, stepping forward with a frown on his face, "you're basically—" Hikaru looked at him over his shoulder, amusement dancing in his teal eye and a smirk twisting his lips.

_That's the point_, the boy thought, stepping away from the two adults in front of him, suddenly feeling like they're a threat, _you're purposefully stressing everyone out to make them panic and mess up…_

"Bu-but Kazehitoha-sensei" Sakura stuttered out, spinning on her heal to look at the brothers with wide eyes, twisting her fingers into painful looking knots. "The race…" Hikaru nodded encouragingly, keeping most of his attention onto the tiny insecure pinkette and half of his attention on the frowning girls behind her. "…uh…what is…the time… frame?"

"Very good little sprit," Hikaru smiled at her, "about the time frame…" Sakura bobbed her head and glanced unsurely at the group behind her, she's gained the majority of the girls in her class with only one boy that she could see. "You'll have only one hour to complete this race. Your hour will begin when you hear the next bell."

"Shikamaru," one of the boys whispered to him, voice soft and unsure

"It's nothing Chōji," Shikamaru murmured backing away again, "let's go. We've got plans to make"

"Plans?" of the other boys questioned, "you're actually thinking of working with Naruto? Are you stupid?"

"Hay Kazehitoha-sensei said to listen to him," Chōji replied quickly

"Yeah, but he also said we have to work together, he never specified 'who' we're supposed to work together," the boy shot back. "More specifically, he never actually said Loser's name, he just said to listen to your leader."

"And he named Naruto as our leader—," Shikamaru drawled, only to get interrupted by a familiar ringing that sent chills rolling down his spine

_Ding, dong, ding!_

All the children stiffened at the sound of the third bell of their academy, their eyes widening in realization

"That's the first bell," Hotaru smiled, "You've got one hour to get both ribbons."

"You better start running now," Hikaru smirked, "After all, we're not going to be waiting for you." With that both brothers disappeared from their places, prompting many of the students to gasp in awe. Sakura gasped herself, her eyes widening as she spun on her heal and quickly dived into the nearest bush, not noticing that several other girls were quick to follow her.

"Damn," Shikamaru cursed under his breath, grabbing both Naruto and Chōji by their arms and diving into the nearest bush to hide themselves.

"S-Shikamaru!" Naruto whined loudly, "I can run myself!"

"It's an elimination round," Shikamaru panted as he let go of the blonde, "Those two are Jonin at least!"

"And they both disappeared," Chōji called himself, trying to keep up with his friend

"And neither one of them are going to go light on us just because we're kids," Shikamaru added as he slid to a stop, quickly huddling himself at the bottom of a tree, pulling Naruto and Chōji in close with him. "We have to come up with a plan or else we might lose this little game of theirs."

"You're interested in winning?" Chōji asked in surprise

"Not really but Naruto is," Shikamaru replied, "Besides didn't you see how those two acted? They let us do all the assuming and rule making. The only rules they made were to get two ribbons, follow our leader and to work together, and the one hour. Nothing less, nothing more."

"So… does that mean we can work with the girls?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side

"I don't see why we can't," Shikamaru agreed, "I already have our girl in mind, is there a girl you specifically want to work with?"

"Um… S-Sakura-chan," Naruto stuttered with a blush

"Good," Shikamaru nodded, "She's a good asset."

"Really?" Naruto asked in surprise, usually people shoot her down because of her looks and him because their parents tell them too.

"Yeah, she's smart enough and her chakra control is unrivaled by anyone else in class," Shikamaru replied, mildly surprised by Naruto's reaction, "What did you think I was going to say?"

"Most people don't like Sakura-chan because of her hair color," Naruto replied, "that's all they see."

"All anyone sees of you is your scares but that doesn't define you either," Shikamaru replied, "you're smarter then you look. If you weren't you wouldn't be able to pull off all those pranks you do every day." Naruto smiled, lost for words, unable to contradict or prove Shikamaru's words. "Well, how do you think we should find them?"

"Huh?" Naruto questioned in surprise, his thoughts thrown off course by the question

"We have to find the girls," Chōji reminded him, "How are we supposed to find them?"

"oh…uh," Naruto sat back and thought for a moment, his eyes suddenly widening and a smile breaking out on his face, "Hay Kiba! You wanna help us?!"

…

* * *

…

Sakura collapsed at the edge of a stream, realizing for the first time that they were taken to a small training ground that none of them could possibly get lost in. She's already run into several other kids from her class, Ami and her friends snarls prompted her to run away as fast as she could, a few boys' glares told her to do the same thing. So while she kneeled beside the stream panting for breath trying not to get concerned with the growing yellow and black spots dotting her vision, Sakura tried to calm herself down enough to think clearly.

"Haruno-san!" Sakura screamed as a hand clamped down on her shoulder, unfortunately for Sakura the hand was strong and didn't let her scramble away. "It's me!" Sakura gasped and looked over her shoulder at the other girl panting just behind her. Just behind Sakura were two other girls, one with short pale yellow hair and another with short navy hair—Sakura recognized both as the clan heiress of the Yamanaka and Hyūga clans.

"Haruno-san," the blond panted, "it's me… Ino… Ino Yamanaka!"

"Hi-Hinata Hi-Hyūga," the other panted heavily, her face red enough to make her look as if she was on the verge of feinting. Sakura continued to stare wide eyed and terrified at the two, not sure if they were going to tie her up and leave her for elimination or actually try something nice; like try to work with her.

"We're… we're not g-going to… hurt you!" Ino gasped, slowly releasing Sakura's shoulder and placing it back onto her knee, still panting harshly. "We're… we're going to… to follow you!" Sakura continued to gasp, trying desperately to get in more oxygen despite the smaller but numerous dots filling her vision. "What's your… your orders?" Ino asked, trying hard not to collapse herself, silently noting that Hinata already did. The draw backs of her family's strict training showing its ugly head as the white eyed girl tried to tuck her tingling legs beneath her; further cutting off blood circulation. Sakura didn't move from where she collapsed just a short distance from the blonde, her too wide green eyes staring terrified up at the blonde in question. She knew a lot about the energetic blonde and the shy navy haired girl. When Sakura entered the academy, her chances of making friends decreased dramatically and her ability to gather information increased dramatically. She knew everyone's names and ranks in the academy, plus she's done her research on the village clans, she knew most of them by name if not by their abilities. Of course, that also meant that Sakura knew that on her own, she was dead meat; epically if she met up with Ami and her clique again. Hinata wasn't much better with most of the boys, she'd be tormented if left alone and there weren't many girls willing to work with the shy heiress. On the up side, no one in their class would think, much less dare, to go against Ino. If her mouth didn't take you done a peg or two her influence with the teachers would. If they separated, Sakura and Hinata would be sitting ducks, Ino at least had a half way chance at surviving the test; provided she didn't cross any enemies.

With her mind made up, Sakura took in a few calmer breaths and observed the two heiresses a little closer. Both of them were trembling with exhaustion, Hinata's face as red as any tomato, her white eyes were nearly blood shot in appearance. Ino herself was red in the face; her eyes narrowed in annoyance but sparked with determination, and though her legs trembled under her, her hands were steady. Sakura knew just by their appearance that if anyone came across them in that state, even Ino would be harmed in some way.

All of them needed to rest and regain their strength

"R-rest," Sakura gasped at last, pushing herself up enough to sit properly, "We… we all need to rest."

"Oh thank goodness," Ino gasped, collapsing next to the stream, purposefully putting her sanded feet into the cool water, "for a moment there I wasn't sure what you'd say. I don't think any of us can go on another marathon."

"This training ground isn't big enough for a marathon," Sakura replied with a slight smile as she placed one hand into the stream, "just big enough for this test."

"It's more like a large park then a training ground," Hinata chirped, drenching one of her hanker chiefs and dabbing it at her face and neck carefully.

"Ah, that's right you were using your Byakugan to keep track of Haruno-san," Ino gasped in realization, blinking in amazement at the white eyed girl.

"She did-I mean you did?" Sakura asked, quickly correcting herself when Ino shot her a strange look

"Y-yes," Hinata agree, softly bobbing her head, "you were quite difficult to keep track of." Hinata decided to activate her eyes to make a point, letting her black and white vision flare with the warm golden glow of Ino's feather soft charka. Sakura's signature was colored like teal waters but felt more like hard gems then the water they sat beside—plus there was that strange silver glow that surrounded her. Hinata didn't know if Sakura knew about the secondary signature that was always surrounding her, but she did know she'd have to talk to her father about it. After all, to her vision the silver glow looked like an elegant spiraled flower sitting in the middle of Sakura's chest; it almost appeared similar to her late mother's favorite Bebefee cactus plant.

"That's really cool Hyūga-san," Sakura smiled softly at Hinata, "I knew you had the Byakugan but I wasn't aware you could use it so efficiently."

"Huh?" Hinata blinked at Sakura in confusion

"By my calculations the training ground is about two acers wide and two long, a total of four acers," Sakura elaborated. "You're still pretty young, so I figured your range wasn't that large."

"Hay she's not the only one who tried to keep track of you," Ino pouted at Sakura, "I tried too!"

"You did?" Sakura asked, "How?"

"I'm a sensor," Ino answered, as if she was proud of this fact. "All Yamanka are trained to be sensors as soon as their old enough to understand the human language!"

"After the third time she lost you, we teamed up," Hinata informed Sakura with a soft smile, "Her range isn't that wide and too many signatures confuse her."

"Hay, that's not nice Hinata," Ino pouted at her, "I didn't tell her that you lost her too!"

"Only once," Hinata sighed, bowing her head in shame

"While you both have lost her, I did not," the three girls nearly screamed at the soft voice, together they jumped and turned slightly teary eyes in the direction of the boy's voice. "Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyūga… may I join your group?" Sakura blinked dumbly at large talking gray coat, with her thick bangs blocking some of her vision, she was unable to see what little of the boy's face that was visible.

"Kyaa!" Sakura shouted, pointing wildly at the boy in fear, "A talking coat!" the three other kids stared dumbly at Sakura for a moment, the silence surrounding them broke only when Ino started laughing loudly.

"That's just Shino Aburame!" Ino laughed, wrapping her arms around her stomach, "he doesn't show his face to anyone!"

"R-really?" Sakura asked, blinking at Ino as she lowered her hand

"Yes, really," Shino didn't sound too happy about Sakura's accusation or Ino's laughter, "now can I join your group?"

"O-Our g-group?" Hinata and Sakura stuttered together

"Yes your group," the boy nodded under his too large hood, Sakura looked back at Ino and Hinata in complete confusion

"We have a group?" Sakura asked in bewilderment

"Kazehitoha-sensei named you our group's leader," Shino elaborated, "I will follow instructions."

"Oh…o-okay," Sakura stuttered, turning slightly to look in confusion at Ino, who had managed to calm her laughter into soft chuckling and snickering. "Yamanaka-san… can you search for the two brothers?"

"I don't see why I can't," Ino shrugged, "however I can tell you that they're not within my range. Which is a good thing."

"How so?" Sakura asked

"For a while Hikaru-sensei followed you," Shino said, stepping closer to them, "He took out anyone who appeared to group together and disregard your instructions."

"That includes Ami right?" Ino asked, "And how do you know that?"

"I placed bugs on everyone," Shino answered bluntly, "it would be beneficial to know allies from enemies."

"O~kay," Sakura turned to look at Hinata, "Do you have enough strength to search for a friend?"

"Uh-um… y-yes," Hinata answered softly, blinking shyly at Sakura, "W-why?"

"It's something the teachers said…" Sakura started, "they appointed Naruto and I as our respective 'teams' leaders. But then they said that only three kids from each class and only nine from each year can pass the test, that's basically putting everyone in the class against each other."

"You think they picked you and Naruto on purpose?" Ino asked, "it would make sense if they want to put everyone against each other."

"You and Naruto aren't well liked," Shino agreed, Sakura pressed her lips together tightly and bowered her head in shame

"Shino! Don't be so mean!" Ino snapped, reaching out and putting her hands on one of Sakura's shoulders, half-heartedly taking the pinkette into a hug. "It's not nice to say something like that to someone's face!"

"But it's okay to say it behind their back?" Sakura asked, her voice sounding as miserable as her face look. Ino twitched and tried to back peddled but her tong tripped up on her words and in the end, her stumbled over sentence just didn't make sense.

"…I'm sorry," Ino sighed, bowering her head in shame when she realized the mess her back peddling had done, "I hadn't meant—"

"It's okay," Sakura interrupted, "your bluntness is one of the things I admire about you."

To say that everyone was stunned would be an understatement

…

* * *

…

He stared out at the growing group of children, his brow twitching wildly as they continued to whine loudly at him. It had barely been fifteen minutes and already his sempai had gathered ten children, his ability to catch them having dismissed them from the game.

Which, was a point of the race they hadn't quite made clear

_How hard is it to remember that they're supposed run from each other, collect the ribbons and run from __**you**__ without getting caught?_ Hotaru thought as he pinched the bridge of his nose, _I got jipped, the straws were fixed, Sempai tricked me~_

"Hello Ototo," mockery laced the familiar voice sounding behind him

_Speak of the devil and he'll appear,_ he turned an irritated look at his superior, silently noting that the man had one thrashing child over his shoulder and another knocked out in his hand. "You're not supposed to damage them" he said evenly, his brow twitching when several of the girls screamed shrilly at 'Hikaru'.

"Oh it was nothing," Hikaru smiled at him, "They charged me readily enough." Hotaru stared dully at him, watching as his 'brother' tossed the two boys at Mizuki's feet almost carelessly, the two boys twisted and turned to glare heatedly at him in response.

"Akira-kun," Mizuki said in surprise, "What-how—"

"He got caught," Hikaru shrugged carelessly, "So much for your number one student." Akira snarled, his indigo eyes glaring furiously at the tall blonde man just before he disappeared, his sapphire blue hair was muddied and mussed, as if he went sliding through mud.

"Akira-kun, what happened?" Mizuki asked, stooping and pulling the boy upright, going so far as to reach for the knot on the rope keeping the boy's arms at his side.

"Don't," Hotaru ordered, stilling the instructor, "You release him and you'll be messing up the test. Which means everyone in this class, including your praised number one student, would be disqualified and none of your students would have the chance to compete for the advanced class until next year."

"You're willing to make them wait that long?" Mizuki asked in surprise

"If you choose to interfere with our calculations, then yes," Hotaru answered evenly. "As we've said before, the advanced class isn't to be sniffed at. The test will be difficult and the course of the actual classes will be even harder. Those who aren't strong enough shouldn't be in that class."

"You're speaking like those who pass your test get removed from _my_ class," Mizuki narrowed his eyes at him.

"Of course they are," Hotaru narrowed his eyes right back at him, "Didn't you read the files?" Mizuki felt his brow twitch, he had the file regarding the 'advanced classes' but he didn't get read all of it before he had to inform his class about the task of the day. "Those who pass the exam will have their class schedules re-written so they'll be placed in a separate teaching schedule as your normal students."

"Is this happening for just this school or the other one on the other side of the village?" Mizuki asked, his narrowed eyes unwavering

"…It's being done across the village," Hotaru replied, his voice bordering on frigid as he stared, "We're creating a special class for the children of this village. There's talk of making it a special school but I doubt that'll happen any time soon, this special class is making a big enough fuss as it is."

…

* * *

…

Hiruzen sighed as he stared dully at the normal class schedule sitting on his desk innocently. There were six classes in total, each subject rated from A to F, with 'A' being the honor's class. Now he had to take those six classes and possibly add another or two, which meant bickering with his council members. He couldn't just re-write the 'advanced' children's classes but he could add a class and make their classes that much harder, although he didn't have the first clue how. Right now, the academy classes consisted of: History, Science, Math, writing, PE and an elective. The advanced class would need five but their elective would need to be replaced with a class concentrated on Chakra Control and maybe with another concentrated on a more specific skill. Depending on those how pass he might be able to swing in some advanced Ninjutsu classes for the children or even elemental Ninjutsu classes (for Sakura). That would turn their current six classes into seven classes—if he could turn that elective into a specialty class.

"This is troublesome," Hiruzen blinked at his paper strewn desk and looked up, in his door way stood one familiar looking Jonin commander.

"Shikaku," Hiruzen smiled, "What can I do for you?"

"The extra class you're testing all the children in the academy for," Shikaku started, pushing off from the door way and walking towards Hiruzen calmly, "I couldn't help but feel like there's another reason behind its testing."

"You mean other than fishing out the so called 'geniuses' in the next generation?" Hiruzen asked with a soft smile, leaning back in his chair, "I'd say you're right but I can't."

"Hmm," Shikaku stared blandly at him, his hands stuffed into his pockets and his head tilted slightly to the side, "Is it fixed?"

"Of course not," Hiruzen replied, his voice sounding insulted despite his face showing nothing. "It'll be as difficult as it can be without annihilating everyone."

"You mean whipping out your intended target?" Shikaku asked with a raised eyebrow, "Have you figured out how to adjust the new classes with the old ones?"

Hiruzen stared dully at Shikaku, "I hate it when you do that."

…

* * *

…

**It's not guaranteed that Sakura will pass the test, Sasuke is in the 'honors' class so he's not a part of Sakura's and Naruto's current class, should I put him in the advanced class anyways?**

**So far those in Sakura's current class are Ino, Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Chōji**

**I was thinking of choosing some unusual characters for the advanced class but I haven't decided who**

**So, who do you think should be in the class?**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	4. Chapter 4

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 4: passing the test

Koomahana

**I'm so sorry! thank you for pointing out my mistake! it must've happened when I last updated all of the chapters... I'm sorry!**

**here's the real chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Shikamaru stopped dead in his tracks, eyes clued to a tree directly in front of him, his eyebrow twitching wildly. Chōji was the first to notice him stop, Kiba and Naruto only stopped when they heard a loud buzzing filling the air around them. The two boys shared a bewildered look before realization dawned on them and they both dived for cover, Shikamaru remained staring dully at the twittering blue insect sitting on the tree in front of him.

"Enough Shino," Shikamaru sighed, slumping his shoulders, "Come out already. You're scaring Naruto and Kiba"

"I'm not scared!" both boys protested loudly together

"Close not quite," A boyish voice snickered out, alarming Shikamaru in the process

"Kiba! Naruto! Move!" the two in question barely had enough time to stand before they were staring wide up at a cloud of buzzing insects. "Guys!" Shikamaru shouted, twisting on his ankle to move forward, Chōji close behind. Thankfully neither boy had need to do anything, their surroundings twisted dizzying before finally dispersing to reveal that they were still standing in their previous meeting area.

"A-are y-you o-o-okay?" a soft voice stuttered out softly, slowly Shikamaru turned to look at the speaker and found himself staring at a pair of pearl violet orbs and familiar turquois eyes.

"Fine," Shikamaru blinked slowly at the familiar girls, "We're fine."

"Fine?" Ino repeated slowly, one eye brow rising, "If not for Hinata-chan's quick thinking, you four would've been stuck in that Genjutsu until one of the Kazehitoha-brothers decided to free you."

"Ow~" Shikamaru turned to look in the direction of the pained groan

"Hi~na~ta~" Naruto groaned, "Why~y~?"

"S-s-s-sorry!" Hinata squeaked, her eyes widening and her face paling. Shikamaru remained staring dumbly at Naruto and Kiba, who were both on the ground looking like they just got ran over by an elk herd. Shikamaru blinked and looked to his other side, searching for his friend. He found Chōji swaying on his feet slightly, only standing upright because of Sakura and Shino, both of whom appeared to have wrapped their arms around the bigger boy's middle.

"Wait… genjutsu?" Shikamaru asked, turning to look back at Ino

"Yeah, Genjutsu," Ino rolled her eyes, "I bet you that snot nosed Akira brat put it over you guys before he got caught by Hikaru-sensei." She had the great pleasure of watching that particularly embarrassing scene happen and she had full intensions to flaunt her knowledge of his failure the next time they met up, "We're properly the reason he left you four without dispelling the technique himself."

"B-but, we're not supposed to learn any advanced techniques like that until we're genin," Hinata whispered to Ino unsurely

"Seriously?" Ino asked as if she couldn't believe that Hinata had just said that, "Just how do you think that boy even got to being the top of Mizuki-sensei's class? It sure as heck wasn't by working hard!"

"I-Ino," Sakura stuttered, drawing attention to Chōji's weak condition, "I-I think we need to find an instructor…Akimichi-san doesn't look too good…"

"Oh man, I've never seen him so pale before," Shikamaru said, staring at his friend in alarm

"Bu-but if we go to one of the brothers…" Hinata stuttered unusually, glancing at the two boys still laying on the ground

"Kiba and Naruto are hurt too," Sakura added, "I think we should go back and get them treated."

"But Sakura… the test," Ino reminded her, "What about the test! You heard what Hikaru-sensei told Akira-loser, if we get caught without a ribbon we're out of the race."

"…I think their health is more important than a ribbon, Yamanaka-san," Sakura replied softly, "Look if you don't want to go back you don't have too. But I want to get at least Chōji to the nurses, he really doesn't look that good…"

"I'm with Sakura on this one," Shikamaru said, stepping towards his friend, "Passing the test is useless if one of us gets hurt in the process." Shino nodded his head in agreement as he released his hold on Chōji and let Shikamaru take his place, without much thought about it the young heir then walked over to Kiba and Naruto and lifted one Kiba's arms over his own shoulder.

"I will go with them," Shino said when Ino and Hinata looked at him with wide eyes, "I cannot carry Naruto though I suspect he will be fine soon enough."

"Since that's the case the three of us will go take these two to the nurse," Sakura said, she turned to look at Hinata and Ino, "Please look after Uzumaki-san. He'll be a handful but so long as you remain reasonable and simplify your explanations for him, he should be able to understand your point of view quickly enough."

"And if he doesn't," Shikamaru grunted as he adjusted his hold on Chōji and turned with Sakura, "Just punch him on the head, He'll get it eventually."

"I wish you luck with Uzumaki-san," Shino said as he walked past the dumbfounded heiresses. Ino watched as the five walked away from her and Hinata, leaving the two of them with possibly one of the most difficult people to work with in all of academy.

"…they just ditched us with Naruto," Ino said flabbergasted, "of all the people to leave us with… it had to be Naruto."

_I don't mind_, Hinata thought glancing back at the blonde in question, watching how he groaned and pushed himself up enough to sit up, one hand clutched to his head as if in pain.

"He-hello," Hinata greeted with a smile, Naruto just stared blankly at her

"…Who are you?" Hinata bowered head in shame

"Moron!" Ino screamed, throwing a kick at the boy

"Ghaaa!"

…

* * *

…

Hotaru watched passively as slowly five small figures carefully revealed themselves to his line of sight. It didn't take him long to notice Sakura or the large boy she was helping support, instantly he was turning towards the group and walking quickly towards them. Shikamaru and Shino were the first to notice him, both having stiffened some when they saw him, alerting Sakura and a half asleep Kiba in the process.

"Ho-Hotaru-sensei," Sakura squeaked, "I-I think they might need a-a nurse."

"Indeed," Hotaru nodded in agreement, "What about you?"

"Um…" Sakura blinked and looked at Shino and Shikamaru before answered, "I-I think we're fine." Hotaru nodded and turned his attention to the sickly Akimichi and half asleep Inuzuka.

"What happened to them?" Hotaru asked, placing a palm to Chōji's head and pressing his fingers to the boy's throat—said boy instantly threw up _on his shoes_. Sakura and Shikamaru paled drastically, looking like Hell had just frozen over and their world was just about to end in a very bloody and violent destruction. Hotaru took a deep breath and stepped away from the boy, simultaneously he summoned a small spring of water from beneath the earth and washed the vomit from his shoes before putting the small amount of summoned water back in the earth and covering it carefully. No way in hell was he going to let his Sempai see—

"I saw that Ototo"

He'll never live it down

"Onii-san," Hotaru greeted in boredom, "It would appear these two boys are in need of medical attention."

"I can see that," Hikaru smirked at him, his one good eye dancing in pastel shades of green. "That blue-haired brat placed a genjutsu on them. Though I am surprised they're reacting so badly."

"Hi-Hyūga-san m-might've hit him too hard," Sakura whispered, turning to glance back at Kiba, "She-she tried to dispel it by hitting chakra points."

"In the only style she knows," Hkaru sighed, flinching slightly in sympathy for the brunet, "And this one?"

"A-Aburame-san and-and I…" Sakura hesitated as she glanced back at the boy in glasses, "We tried to disrupt his chakra flow…"

"Ah, that you did," Hikaru nodded in approval, "It would appear his chakra system doesn't like your guy's too much"

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered bowing her head in shame

"Ah! That's not what I meant Sprite," Hikaru said quickly, "it's just that, when you don't neutralize your chakra enough it could have a negative response instead of a positive one."

"Neutralize your chakra?" Sakura repeated, slowly looking up at the man through her bangs, "you can do that?"

"Well… I can't," Hikaru corrected quickly, "but some of the best medics in the world can neutralize their chakra. Tsunade Senju, one of the legendary Sanin, is the best at neutralizing her chakra; it also helps in her healing."

"…what are the benefits of neutralizing your chakra?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side

"Sakura now is not the time for a lesson," Shikamaru sighed, "We have to get Chōji to the nurse." Sakura gasped and nodded her head in agreement, together they hobbled back towards the academy and in search of the nurse they all knew so well. Hikaru and Hotaru watched as Shino carefully dragged Kiba with him, ignoring them both and just flat out following Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Well… that went better than I planned," Hikaru chuckled

"Your plan?" Hotaru asked in an insulted tone of voice, "I'm the one who did all the work for the test. I set up the training grounds, I made up the rules of the test, I created the ribbons, I—"

"—Am an over-achiever," Hikaru snickered, "I'll go inform Lord Hokage, later!"

"NO! Damn it sempai! Get back here!" Mizuki frowned as Hotaru continued wave a fist at his retreating elder brother, those weren't the words of two siblings discussing the final contestants of a race. Those were the words of two co-workers discussing the end-game of a mission.

_Just what are you two planning?_ Mizuki thought as he turned on his heel and returned to the roped up children waiting for the hour to end.

…

* * *

…

Naruto rubbed at the slowly growing lump on the side of his head, scratches littered his face and arms, his once pristine clothes (or as pristine as the washer got them) were ragged and dirty. Hinata was walking quietly beside him with Ino taking the lead as they marched through the mini-forest, trying to avoid anyone who might do them harm. Eventually they reached the very back of the training grounds and drew out what they knew of it, mostly with the Byakugan's help. Putting all their skills on the table, they each tried to figure out just how to get a ribbon from at least one of the brother's without getting caught in the processes.

"You can't be serious," Ino drawled, looking at Naruto with two heads, "you can't seriously expect me to succeed in conditions like that! Go through a tree and some bushes? Are you nuts? I could die!"

"You don't have to worry Ino-san," Hinata whispered, "I'll make sure they get close enough to you."

"And I'll keep them distracted long enough to not notice you," Naruto agreed, nodding his head in agreement. "Come on Ino, You're the best shot we have to pull this off."

"I am?" Ino questioned, blinking her eyes curiously at Naruto as a faint dust of crimson painted her cheeks

"Yeah!" Naruto smiled brightly, "Let's face it, I never win in a fist fight with a Jonin and Hinata's not that experienced with fighting adults. She won't be able to get close enough to land any hits on them."

"We-we can distract," Hinata stuttered, bowing her head in shame again, "While you-you take advantage of their backs."

"…alright then," Ino smiled, her face glowing proudly, "Since you both insist, I can't possibly let you down!"

"Alright!" Naruto laughed, "Now how else do you think we should get to team up with?"

"Team up with?" Ino repeated with a frown, "Are you stupid or were you daydreaming during Hikaru-sensei's and Hotaru-sense's explanations? Only three people can pass in a class and nine in the same year. Sakura, Shikamaru, Chōji and Kiba will have to try in their other classes but the three of us have a chance of passing; don't you think that we owe it to them to pass?"

"…oh," Naruto bowed his head with a sigh, "it's just that… I was thinking of getting help from some kids I know…"

"Are they good at diversions?" Ino asked, crossing her arms, "Can they protect my back?"

"Yeah!" Naruto pouted at her, "I wouldn't think of them otherwise!"

"Well tell me their names and I'll be the judge of that," Ino replied, glaring at him, "I only trust so few people to watch over my body, Shikamaru and Chōji are two of those people, the rest happen to be related to us."

"Well then Hinata will watch your back!" Naruto growled, "you trust her right?!"

"Of course I trust her," Ino huffed, "Our mothers were friends!" Hinata tried very hard not to flinch at the past tense; thankfully it appeared that neither blonde noticed the flash of pain that crossed the young heiress's face. "Now let's get this done and over with!"

"Get what over with?" all three jumped at the amused sounding voice, "oh~ what a detailed little map you three made." They all looked up at the high fence that was to Ino's back, staring wide eyed at one very amused looking one eyed man. "Hello children," Hikaru greeted with a lazy wave, his blue ribbons dangling from his waist mockingly, "are you having fun yet?" as one the children jumped to their feet and took off running, trampling over their map at the same time, Hikaru watched with a predatory kind of smile.

"Now we can't have that,"

Hidden safely in a nearby bush, a pair of black eyes widened as the man disappeared and reappeared inches in front of him, it took everything the young boy had not to flinch at the sudden movement. Thankfully Hikaru didn't remain in front of him long and was quick to give chase to the three conspiring children currently running for their lives.

_Should I help them?_ he thought, watching the man disappear into the brush, _I need a green ribbon…_

All the while, the boy was unaware of a familiar looking blonde stationed on a tree branch directly above him

…

* * *

…

"This meeting is about one thing we need to destroy," Hiruzen said from where he stood to the far side of the large room. Every Jonin he knew of stood inside the large information room, each whispering together, others silent and watchful, wiry about the subject at hand. "More specifically, a dangerous cult," Hiruzen leaned slightly back in his seat. "The cult worships a god known only as Jashin. For them he is the god of eternity, for others he is the god of death and destruction."

"So what are we going to do?" one of the Jonin's asked, "Track down their base and kill anyone inside?"

"Thankfully we don't have to worry about that," Hiruzen replied, "the hidden waterfall village did that several years ago. However they weren't able to exterminate everyone, those who achieved true immortality remain alive to this day. Thankfully we were able to capture one that was a live and were able to interrogate her before she died" Here, Hiruzen nodded to Ibiki as he stepped forward, his scared face smooth like glass and his black eyes hard like steel.

"I'm not going to sugar coat anything I've learned from the woman," Ibiki said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "She informed me that the cult's plan is to awaken someone named 'hime' and destroy everyone living in the name of their god." Ibiki informed everyone calmly, "Saddly, she would only know the 'hime' when she sees her; something about being related to her high priest."

"Is she still around?" Asuma asked, stepping forward with a frown, "I thought you said she was dead?"

"She is dead," Ibiki agreed, "She died despite everything medics did to spare her life. We don't even know how she died, her body just shriveled up like a raisin and turned to dust. Her words are all we have left to work with."

"Did she give any descriptions of this 'hime' that they want?" Kakashi asked, "Anything to help find the woman before they do would be nice."

"Depends on your definition of 'description'" Ibiki sighed, "The girl was born in the last blood moon. Something that only the power their 'god' could do, which means their 'hime' has the power over blood and anything related to it."

"…so she's a real deal psychopath," a kunochi sighed, rubbing at her brow. "This should be easy," She said sarcastically, "When was the last blood moon? A century ago?" everyone fell silent as several loud thumps and what sounded like muffled screaming suddenly filled the room. Eventually one of Hiruzen's guards appeared, whispered in his ear and disappeared again, only to reappear helping hold up one familiar looking Anbu agent. Behind him was a thrashing woman wrapped tightly in a thick layer of Wire, wire that appeared to have consumed the Anbu agent's left arm.

"Crow," Hiruzen called, rising to his feet

"My apologies Lord Hokage, I—"

"You're excused Crow," Hiruzen waved away the young man's concerns, "What happened?"

"We found the woman as instructed," Crow grunted as he yanked his bloody arm forward and practically threw the woman in front of him, he slumped heavily against the guard holding him up. "I lost two teammates and the other is in the hospital but I was able to capture her as requested." The woman twisted at odd angles in her thick binds, twisting her joints painfully to glare furiously at Hiruzen from the floor. The muffled scream she gave sent chills rolling through a few Jonin's spines, it didn't take a genius to know that she wasn't happy and that she would kill them all if she got free.

"Please tell us everything you've learned from her," Hiruzen stared pointedly at the thrashing woman who stopped to growl lowly at Crow, she was bound tightly in his wire with what looked like a hanker chief stuffed in her mouth. The bound woman stilled as she felt everyone's eyes turn on her and she imminently twisted her head into a disgusting angle to glare at everyone from beneath her ratty black bangs, her too thin legs snapped out at the nearest Jonin as if she thought she could slam her pointed heel into his shin; Kakashi didn't so much as flinch back from her. The wire binding her arms to her side tightened over her skin, each time she growled or jerked forward to attack the wire tightened further and further. Her black eyes were crazed and wild, she wrenched furiously in her bindings, snarling at anyone who dared to stare too long. Beneath the thick wire keeping her in place, one could see that the only thing the woman wore was a white dress, that barely covered the essentials, and a single pendent that sat proudly on her slightly larger than normal bust.

"Yes sir," Crow nodded, glancing down at the bound and thrashing woman, only to flinch back when her image suddenly twisted horrendously; he could only whisper one thing before he collapsed completely against the Anbu Agent holding him: "the room's spinning…" Hiruzen sighed, staring at the steadily growing puddle of deeper crimson on his floor; why is it that a half dead shinobi must visit him right after his carpet gets cleaned?

"Someone please tend to him?" Hiruzen asked, looking pointedly at the medics in the room. Everyone tried not to snicker at the soft whisper of 'My carpet', it was a well-known fact that Hiruzen's office carpet was the deep red it was because so many shinobi went to him before the hospital because of important information, supposedly it started out as a light pink bubblegum color. He just got tired of replacing the carpet every week during the two wars and then just didn't bother replacing it when the third war ended and he returned to the Hokage seat.

"What information can you supply us with?" Ibiki asked, staring at the young Anbu agent wirily, silently watching Kakashi walk over, grab the back of the woman's dress top (Crow happily disabled the wire connecting him and the woman) and drag the still kicking woman towards the front of the room where everyone could see her.

"The high priest of the cult you're talking about is named Hidan," Crow replied, ignoring the resulting muffled scream of the woman, "She doesn't know how old he is, however she did inform me that some in her cult think he's about a century old and some think he's older."

Hiruzen nodded slowly, "what else did she tell you?"

"That this 'Hidan' guy is searching the five nations for his daughter," Crow answered, again the woman screamed shrilly, her voice nearly cut through the air and the Anbu's voice, "it might be possible that the one you call 'Hime' and the one he calls 'Daughter' are one in the same."

"If that's the case I can trick the information out of the woman," Ibiki nodded courtly, glancing back at the woman as she fell silent, choosing instead to tangle her legs under her so she could sit up instead of lay on the ground, "Do you know what this Hidan guy looks like?"

"Supposedly he's albino," Crow shrugged, only to flinch when the medic growled at him and forcefully pushed him to a chair to tend to his bleeding leg and arm better. "Anyways, he moves around too much to get a real lock on him," Crow continued, trying to ignore the whispering from the group beside him. "However… his followers aren't nearly as low key as he is, they're fairly easy to find." The woman growled lowly as she turned a bone chilling glare onto Crow, her eyes promising pain and torture.

"I've already told the other hidden villages and our Daimyo about this cult," Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, "there is a kill on sight order for anyone wearing the crest of these people."

"Just so we know what to look for, what is their crest?" Kakashi asked curiously, again the woman fell silent, everyone's eyes turned to the woman. The woman's pendent that hung just below her collar bone, was little more than a single circle with an upside down triangle on it. While some of the men's eyes drifted slightly lower, they were quickly reminded of their purpose when several kunochi slammed a healed foot into their own.

"Are you serious?" one Jonin asked curiously, eyes clued to his Hokage as he could feel a particular glare of a young woman to his left, "that's nothing more than an upside down triangle in a circle." the woman screamed shrilly at him, her furious black orbs rounding onto him, as if making a silent promise to kill him first.

"And that would be the crest of their god," Ibiki drawled, "His name is Jashin." On cue, the crest glowed an ominous bloody red and hummed mockingly at everyone staring at it; several shivered and stepped away from the creepy object. The woman however rolled her eyes sky ward and moaned, her body shivering as the hum reverberated through her body; giving off the impression that the pendent gave her some kind sexual pleasure.

"That _thing_ is creepy as hell itself," one kunochi commented as she shivered and stepped further away from the woman. The glow faded and the woman slumped in her restraints, a smile pulled at her cheeks and kind of glaze fell over her black eyes. "_Extremely_ Creepy," the Kunochi emphasized, shivering as she stepped away again

"What else has the woman said about this Hime character?" one of the other Jonin asked, quickly changing the subject

"Since she was born on the night of the bloody moon, and the last known one was about nine years ago, it's assumed that this 'Hime' is approximately six to seven years old," Ibiki answered quickly and efficiently, the woman turned an irritated kind of look towards him.

"So she's right at that age where she's yet to decide what kind of person she is," Shikaku spook up, "if she's like the cult she'll have violent out breaks and an obsession with blood." The woman gave a delighted sounding giggle, wiggling in her binds as if she wanted to clap her hands or dance in joy.

"And if she's not?" the previous kunochi asked, the bound woman snorted in dismissal, "What if she's decided to not walk that kind of path? What do we do then?" everyone fell quiet, imagining just what kind of person this 'Hime' could be. Was she kind and gentle? Shy even? Dose she feint at the sight of blood or worry uselessly over a small scrape? Dose she act like a normal human being? Or was she worse then what the picture of the cult paints? Could she truly be cable of bringing down the five great nations in the name of her 'god' and laugh about it? Did she like blood? Did she like death? Did she laugh when someone got hurt?

"It doesn't matter what kind of personality the girl has," Hiruzen said at last, turning in his seat to look out at the prospering village before him. "The girl has the kind of power to destroy the world as we know it. We cannot let her get into the wrong kind of hands. If we find her and she is capable of empathy we shall train her to heal and save lives so she might be able to fight back the urge to destroy."

"…and if she doesn't?" it was the kind of question no one wanted to ask, but someone had to, someone had to ask what they were going to do if they find that one little girl capable of destroying everything they knew. Hiruzen closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath, far below him he could hear the sounds of laughing children and it put a pain in his heart that one of them could be this 'Hime' they were now searching for.

"…she will need to die," Hiruzen said, opening his eyes to stare in finalization over his entire village, "her power must never be released."

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

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**Page 10**


	5. Chapter 5

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 5: Jashin's Plans

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"Sakura-chan!" the nurse called, jumping up from her seat and rushing towards them quickly, "You didn't get hurt again did you?"

"No Namami-san," Sakura smiled pleasantly at the worried brunet, "Akimichi-san got caught in a genjutsu and I didn't neutralize my chakra enough to entirely free him from it."

"Oh is that all?" Namami asked, turning her eyes to another familiar face, "Ah~ Chōji dear, nice of you to stop by without a stomach ache." Shikamaru chuckled in embarrassment, turning his eyes away from one curious little pinkette, clearly he visited the brunet as often as Sakura did. "What about Kiba-kun? He didn't hit his head again did he?" Namami asked as she pressed a glowing palm to Chōji's head and diligently freed him from the genjutsu, "You two better lay him down before he throws up again."

"How'd you know he threw-up?" Shikamaru asked as he hobbled towards a bed with Sakura

"It's on his pant leg," Namami chuckled, turning to face Shino and Kiba, "Well Aburame-kun? What about Kiba-kun? Did he hit his head again?"

"No Ma'am," Shino answered, "I'm afraid Hinata-san tried to free him by hitting his chakra network several times."

"Oh that poor child," Namami sighed, "Poor girl doesn't know just how strong she is." Shino blinked dully at the woman, watching how she pressed a green palm to Kiba's chest before instructing him to take the brunet to the bed beside Chōji's. "Now that we got the critical out of the way," Namami winked at Sakura playfully, "What about you three? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine," Shikamaru drawled, "I tripped once but my knee doesn't need attention."

"I am unharmed," Shino answered, "Why do you call me by my last name and not my first like the others?"

"Why Aburame-kun, I don't know your first name," Namami answered with a patient smile, "I only remember the names of those who come here on a weekly or more bases."

Both boys glanced at Sakura pointedly

"Sakura-chan are you hurt?" Namami asked quickly, as if suddenly remembering she had another child to take care of

"Not to my knowledge," Sakura answered honestly, "I mostly ran from Ami."

"Did she touch you?" Namami asked, suddenly very serious, her brown eyes narrowed as they sharpened onto Sakura with the mention of the familiar name. Sakura blinked found the floor very interesting, her fingers ringing together as she tried very hard not to make eye contact with one not-so-happy nurse. "Sakura Haruno," Namami said warningly, "Did that little brat touch you?"

"…not really," Sakura squeaked, peaking out of her bangs shyly

"Where?" Namami demanded more then asked, Sakura sighed and held out her left wrist, Namami took it carefully between her two larger ones and examined the pale flesh of the small girl's wrist; now surrounded in large purple and blue rings denoting to some kind of clasp. "It's not serious," Namami sighed, taking out a camera and taking a picture, "It'll heal in a few weeks' time…" Sakura nodded and watched as the brunet carefully sterilized the small cuts on her arms before wrapping them in sterile bandages. Namami even repeated the process with both of Sakura's legs and again with the two boys, in fifteen minutes all three children were sitting silently against the nurse wall staring blankly at Chōji and Kiba, waiting for the bell to ring.

"I better go and check on the other contestants," Namami said suddenly as she rose to her feet and headed for the door, "I should've been there from the start but Mizuki-sensei didn't call on me…" Namami stopped in the door and looked down on the three guilty looking children. "None of you move, your friends will want someone to talk to when they feel good enough to move."

"Yes ma'am," the three smiled and nodded together

"Good," Namami smiled herself and walked away, leaving the five on their own. Once again, Sakura found herself staring at everything and anything that wasn't related to the two boys sitting on her right—sadly she wasn't as successful as she was the first time. Shikamaru got up and walked forward until he was standing in front of her, Shino shifted that little bit closer to her so she was pinned between him and the end of an empty bed, Shikamaru crouched in front of her.

"Sakura," Shikamaru said levelly, Sakura tired very hard not to look at neither boy, sadly that left her staring at the wall to her far left, "How often do you come here?"

"Not often," Sakura tried to answer passively but her voice came out as a high pitched squeak, giving away her lame lie imminently.

"How often dose Ami bully you?" Shikamaru asked

"Not often," Sakura answered again, this time her voice was a little louder but it was still too squeaky

"Are your wounds ever serious?" Shino asked, watching Sakura flinch at the question, her whole body turning statue-still; she didn't need to verbally answer when her body did so for her.

"Dose she use any weapons against you?" Shikamaru could see the beginnings of what looked like sweat start to bead on the side of her neck that was visible, again Sakura remained silent. "Have you told anyone?" Sakura was quiet for a moment but her body did loosen up a little and she glanced shyly at Shikamaru, as if she couldn't decide if she should tell him or not.

"Y-Yamanaka knows," Sakura whispered softly, recalling one time were the blonde had nearly gotten in a fist fight with the purple haired girl

"Anyone else?" Shikamaru asked

"…Mama and Papa" Sakura whispered again, her cheeks coloring slightly, Shikamaru and Shino waited patiently. "…Nanami-san," Sakura whispered, _and Kaguya-hime…_ Sakura remembered every detail of the moon princess story book that her father read to her each night, she also knew every detail of the _true_ moon princess history book her mother read to her on occasion. That's why when she has problems and doesn't want to tell her parents because she knows they can't do much, she tells Kaguya-hime. The moon princess couldn't possibly do anything about it either but she did like talking to the moon, it made her feel warm and at peace.

"Anyone else?" Shikamaru asked evenly, having waited long enough for Sakura to say something else

"…you," Sakura whispered with a thoughtful look, "Please don't say anything."

"Why?" Shino asked, "If someone is hurting you, you should get someone to do something about it."

"Ami is my problem," Sakura answered, a strange look entering her eyes; a look of stubbornness and determination mixed with fear and desperation. "My parents have tried, Yamanaka-san has tried, Namami-san has tried but no one can get through to Ami, she just gets worse every time someone brings it up."

…

* * *

…

Everyone left sullenly, their new silent task ringing in their minds, Ibiki and his collies 'happily' walked away with their new 'charge', Crow was escorted by Asuma to the hospital and Kakashi's clone dispersed. Once the last Jonin disappeared from sight, Hiruzen preformed a jutsu to secure the details of his next discussion with the commander of Jonin's. Shikaku lifted himself off the wall and strolled forward to stand beside Hiruzen's desk, pale brown eyes staring in boredom down at the simple looking crystal ball with flickering images on its surface.

"Just what are you planning?" Shikaku asked as he looked up from the crystal ball Hiruzen was using to spy on a certain pinkette in the academy, "You're not thinking of possibly making those three—"

"I haven't decided," Hiruzen sighed, watching the scene zoom out a little to show Chōji and Kiba stare dully at each other before they nodded slightly and returned to their 'sleep'. "I would've liked another Ino-Shika-Cho…"

"You will," Shikaku sighed, "Those three are as thick as thieves. Now I mean, Chōza's and Inoichi's kids with Shikamaru, not Pinky and the Aburame."

"I know," Hiruzen chuckled, letting the image shift back to the training grounds, "I would like it if someone else was able to pass but…"

"Huh?" Shikaku's eyes widened, his face paling slightly, "Hay isn't that…?"

…

* * *

…

Naruto stumbled to a stop with Hinata close beside him, they both had separated from Ino at some point and they weren't entirely sure if that was good or bad. In front of them stood a tall blonde haired man with an eye patch, lazy slouch, bright blue book in hand and a boy their age tied up in thick rope at his feet with a knocked out blonde sprawled out beside him.

Well, they knew where Ino was

"Ino-san!" Hinata gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth, the blonde didn't move but the boy's head snapped up to glare at them, a pout twisting his lips.

"Wait… is-is that Sasuke?" Naruto asked, blinking dumbly at the young boy, "Holy h*** he caught Sasuke Uchiha!" A smile split across Naruto's face as he started laughing loudly, Hinata tried to shrink in on herself as the young Uchiha glared furiously at Naruto.

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you," Hikaru drawled calmly, "He has a ribbon." Naruto instantly fell quiet as his eyes rounded onto the boy; in his right pocket sat the tail end of a little blue ribbon, sitting there as if to mock Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, "We need a blue one too…"

"I know," Naruto whispered "but Ino…"

Hinata ducked her head and turned to the side, her fingers rising slightly as she pressed her pointer two together, "She's fine but not if he catches on."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at Hinata in surprise

"She's awake but needs a distraction before she does anything," Hinata whispered, as if reminding him, "You set up the traps like you talked about. I'll distract him long enough to free Sasuke-san, hopefully he'll help."

"…hmm," Naruto squinted at Hinata for a moment before he squinted up at Hikaru, his lips twisting into a frown, "Okay." Hinata blinked, realizing that her fingers were starting to twist into nervous knots, "I'm trusting you Hinata-chan." Naruto bobbed his head and slid into a stance, "Free Teme and fill him in, I'll do the rest."

"R-right," Hinata felt like squealing, _He trusts me!_

_This isn't going to end well,_ Sasuke thought, staring dully at Naruto and Hinata

"Well then," Hikaru lifted off the tree and walked forward, calmly putting his book away with the knowledge that Hinata had the Byakugan at her disposal—which meant she could see through the genjutsu on his book.

"Let the games begin," he looked too serious to take on two academy students

_We're doomed_, Ino thought, cracking her eyes open just enough to look at Hikaru as he walked away from her

"Don't move little Yamanaka," Hikaru said as he paused, "I wouldn't want you to accidentally get cut by the traps surrounding you."

_I'M DEAD!_ Ino really felt like crying but didn't want to in front of Sasuke, her current crush

"Ready?" Hikaru asked as he stopped in front of Naruto and Hinata

"GO!" Naruto shouted, Hinata burst forward faster than anyone thought possible

…

* * *

…

"I'll F*** kill you old man!" the woman screeched at the top of her glass-shattering voice, "I'll kill you all!" Ibiki sat back and rubbed at his temple, trying his best to ignore the steadily growing thumping just behind his eyeballs. They were able to remove the wires binding her but they had to restrain her to a steel chair with matching cuffs to keep her from lunging at anyone and possibly scratching out their eyes.

"What are your cult's plans?" Ibiki tried again

"Your death!" she sheathed back, "release me you F*** heathen!"

"Well that's one way to get your freedom," Ibiki drawled back, "Defiantly not going to work though." The woman growled lowly, like some kind of animal threatening a trespasser or demon readying itself for its next pray. "Who is Hidan?" She giggled helplessly, sinking in her chair with a dopy smile and eyes filled with blissed remembrance.

"The hottest man on earth," the woman replied, letting out a lectures whistle while she was it, "He is _truly_ Jashin-sama's son."

"I wasn't aware a 'god' could have kids with a human," Ibiki replied sarcastically, the woman's black eyes sharpened on him like daggers.

"We of the clan cannot have children," the woman said slowly, seriously, peaking Ibiki's interest, "We are born sterile and will die sterile. The only way for us to have a child is through Jashin-sama—it is not an easy task and he doesn't perform the task every day or for just anyone."

"If that's the case," Ibiki started slowly, writing down notes before he continued, "How was Hidan conceived?" the woman was quiet for a moment before she answered, as if she wasn't sure if she should or not.

"The mother must be pure of heart, the father a devoted follower, the child born of holy matrimony with Jashin-sama's blood spilt and the mother's death." Ibiki stilled and turned his calculative look onto the woman, his heart beat stilling and his face paling; the silence echoing in the room was nearly deafening.

"… The meaning of the crimson moon?" Ibiki asked, watching as a sadistically pleased smile crept over the woman's face

"A couple marries beneath the red light and they shall have a child," the woman answered, "not many of our kind wish to marry and even less of us wishes for a child. Those of us who do, rarely get accepted by Ōji-sama even less get approved by Jashin-sama."

"…what do your people do during an eclipse?" the woman's sadistically pleased smile spread, her eyes glowing in memory and insanity

"It's a count down," the woman answered, sounding as pleased as any woman gossiping about the hottest rumors, "A countdown to your destruction and our eternity." Ibiki felt as if something very, very bad was about to happen and this woman was the key to stopping it but had no desire to do so. If he was going to get his information about this 'destruction' from her he would have to play his cards right, make sure she beliefs in his doubt or else he'll end up playing to her song.

"…a countdown?" Ibiki questioned in disbelief, "Highly doubtful." He rolled his eyes for effect, carefully analyzing the emotions flashing in her pure black eyes, "My death means nothing compared to the safety of my village." The woman threw her head back and laughed, long, loud, and as crazed as someone truly insane.

"Then prepare sacrifice!" she cackled in delight, "prepare for your people's destruction!" As perturbed as he felt about that, he had to continue with his interrogation, she could still hold vital information.

"I highly doubt you hold the kind of power it would take to destroy my entire village," Ibiki drawled again in a voice full of disbelief, her crazed laughter ended and she stared at him amusement; as if she was watching a pair fighting kittens.

"Of course _I_ don't have that power," the woman smirked at him, relaxing in her restraints, making Ibiki stiffen slightly at the implication

"…then who dose?" he asked, eyes narrowing at the joyful woman

"My lord's beloved daughter," She replied, thrilled with the information. "He fulfilled the requirements for a child, and though the woman was not his, the child is! She drank his _and_ her dead mother's blood! She is the true child of Jashin-sama!" Ibiki felt his blood cool and his eyes widen, watching the woman as she laughed shrilly once more, her eyes and pendent glowing a familiar glimmering crimson.

"_You will never find her until your day of death!_" the woman's voice twisted and turned, taking on a significantly more masculine tone of voice, "_She shall be raised in your light but she shall bring about the end of this cycle and begin the next!_"

"Who are you?" Ibiki asked, trying to keep himself steady and calm

"_I am Jashin,_" The woman's face contorted, her crimson irises blead out into the whites of her eyes, giving her nothing but the little black dot she called pupil, "_God of eternity… and your destruction! My child shall flip the lands, destroy all of the living and re-create the world for my wife and I to roam freely once more!_" The woman grinned viciously at him; blood started dribbling down her nose and ears, and out of her eyes and mouth, as if her body could no longer contain its life force.

"… Who is your wife?" Ibiki asked, she laughed demonically

"_Kaguya Otsutsuki_" the woman coughed, splattering the table with her blood, "_You're creator shall be your destroyer!_"

The woman was dead before her head sagged

…

* * *

…

A few hours later

…

* * *

…

"Told you it wasn't going to end well," Sasuke drawled under his breath

"At least we tried," Naruto hissed back, "And what is an Honor's student doing in this class anyways? Did you get a last minute transfer or something? Oh~ I bet you're a big loser!"

"Shut up Baka!" Sasuke snarled, "Honors class got two hours to grab a ribbon! I'm the last of my entire class so shut it!"

"Oh, so your class was sent before ours?" Ino asked, flinching as the rope binding her to her tree scraped at her arms, threatening to draw blood. All four of them had been caught, bound and tied together on two trees, she and Hinata on one and Naruto and Sasuke on the other.

"Yeah and we weren't supposed to work in teams," Sasuke bobbed his head, "We were told specifically to get the ribbons on our own."

"Oh yeah? How'd that work out for you?" Naruto asked with a smirk, "Ever thought that maybe it was a lie? Sakura-chan had the right idea to work as teams! And you can't fault us for trying to work together!"

"She freaking tripped," Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes, one finger pointing to two bound girls on the tree beside them. "So much for a Hyūga, I thought they were supposed to be graceful and balanced and all that?"

"Don't dis Hinata-chan!" Naruto screamed in the boy's ear, "At least she tried to fight back!"

"Don't scream in my ear loser!" Sasuke screamed back

"It's getting dark out," Hinata whispered, her head bowed in shame, tears threatening her vision, "I'm sorry I failed you…"

"See what you did bastard?! You made her cry!"

"Naruto don't curse at Sasuke-kun!" Ino harped, "Besides it's your fault we're all tied up to begin with!"

"Is not!" Naruto shouted, struggling in the thick rope binding him to a tree

"Is too," Sasuke retorted, he had the misfortune to get tied up with the blonde boy. Ino and Hinata were tied together on their own tree beside them, "Who brings that much rope anyways?! Not only that but Hyūga-girl tripped and got tangled up trying to save you!"

"It's not my fault!" Naruto screamed at Sasuke

"Yes it is!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"It's going to be along night," Ino sighed, ducking her head from her place beside Hinata, "do you think anyone will find us?"

"Maybe," Hinata answered, ignoring the two boys arguing loudly, "I doubt they'll help though. It'll mess with the instructor's data."

"Hm? Oh yeah," Ino sighed

"_Now you three tried to work together," Hikaru smiled at them, "your plan didn't work but at least you tried. Now you three try to work together to get out of those ropes by morning and don't bother helping mister Uchha over there. He needs to do it on his own."_

_How dare he exclude Sasuke-kun!_ Ino huffed and twisted in the ropes

…

* * *

…

Her eyes popped open and imminently a sadistic smirk twisted her features. Her surroundings were dark and cold, something metallic sat beneath her and she could only feel the too thin sheet of paper covering her essentials. Of course the fools would belief that the possession of her god would kill her, gods weren't meant to be stored in human bodies after all. However, they forgot that she wasn't exactly human. Her kind thought of pain as pleasure, the more violent and bloody something was, the more aroused they felt—pain was pleasure.

'_Sister,_' the soft whisper in her mind made her smile soften and her eyes close in sleep

'_It worked beautifully,_' she thought back, it wasn't every day they got separated and it was even rarer for one of them to get captured by a heathen, but their ability to remain in contact no matter the distance helped them take out whole villages. '_I'm in the morgue, just as we planned_'

'_There is a boy awaiting your instructions,_' her sister's whispery voice replied calmly, it was something they didn't share. Her sister was calm and serine like water; up until someone got blood on her then she started to cackle like everyone else in their 'clan'. She herself just like to watch people wet themselves so she acted as insane as she could just to watch the color drain from people's faces. It was truly amusing to watch someone six foot tall and three hundred pounds turn into a twenty-five pound terrified child.

'_His appearance?_'

'_The usual_' Oh how she loved her adorable little sister

'_I can't wait_'

'_Master is awaiting your return_' Just the mere thought of her master made her want to moan, no one was hotter or kinder then her master and the best thing about him was that he accepted them both and didn't choose one twin over the other. If it was one thing their master liked most it was their identical features and most importantly their ability to kill without leaving a mark on their own skin.

She flinched slightly at the sound of someone opening and closing a door, her smile widened

…

"Why do we have to autopsy _her_?" the young mortician asked as he watched his teacher take the body from the freezer and onto one of the moveable tables, "I mean there are plenty of skilled morticians in the building, some of which are better than us."

"You are still in experienced boy," his teacher replied as he pushed the table to the desired location and turned on the light overhead. "Now hurry up and get her over here, don't forget our tools!"

"I don't like this," the young man mumbled stopping beside the slab with said table of required tools, "I feel like—" the boy froze as something icy-cold touched his left hand, he turned to look down at the woman on the slab with wide black eyes.

A crazed smile lit up the woman's face, her black eyes dancing as she whispered into the still silence of the morgue

"_In Jashin-sama's name_" her voice was distorted and awkward, sounding as if more than one person was speaking, "_die._" They didn't have the time to scream much less twitch before their blood splattered the ceiling and floors, sweeping across to the far walls and filling the room with the rancid smell of fresh blood. As the two men died slowly, painfully, the woman sat up, her once ivory white skin turning darker with color, appearing more like peach then her previous white.

"_It is done_," the woman smirked, containing her laughter for later when she could spare it without getting caught again. She jumped down from the table and turned, only to freeze when she caught sight of a shadow in the door way to the morgue; it took her only a moment to recognize her adorable little sister's handy work.

"Well done," she cooed, walking forward without shame of her nudity, she elegantly reached forward and grabbed the silk slip from the young man's numb fingers, her other hand creasing his cheek. "Jashin-sama awaits your visit boy," she kissed his lips, stealing the last ounces of his life force with little effort

…

* * *

…

Kakuzu growled lowly in the back of his throat, it was really tempting for him to stick a paper bomb to the back of Hidan's head. Once again, he was stuck waiting for the damned blond to finish his rituals so they could get a move on for their next mission; and as usual his partner was taking his sweet time communing with his 'god'. Just as Kakuzu was ready to throw a bomb at Hidan, the white haired psychopath opened his violet eyes; for once his voice showed nothing. His usual smirk was gone, his lips were pressed into a flat line, his thin brows were tilted together and his face seemed paler than usual.

"What is it?" Kakuzu asked as Hidan pulled himself up, pulling the stake from his heart while he was at it, "What's wrong?"

"Two years," Hidan answered calmly, his voice bland of any emotion, "I have two years to find her."

"…find who?" Kakuzu asked, his eyes narrowing slightly

"My daughter," Hidan sighed, one hand rubbing at his head irritated, "if I don't find her at the end of two years then I won't be protected from her back lash of power." Kakuzu was quiet a moment, staring at his partner's back, watching the sun set far out in front of them, wondering just when Hidan would tell him all of his plans.

"Hmm? Oh yeah!" Hidan turned to smile at him, "Don't worry your pretty little head Kakuzu! My B*** of a daughter won't get between us!" Hidan only cursed his daughter when he was feeling worried, that meant he wasn't sure if he'd find her in time. Which meant that everyone was in a world of hurt, Akatsuki might not be enough to stop Hidan's daughter if even _he_ was worried about her power.

_Wait a minute,_ Kakuzu's brow twitched twice "Die!"

"Damn it that hurts!"

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	6. Chapter 6

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 6: Mistaken identity

Koomahana

**Song: Almost Lover**

**By: A Fine Frenzy**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Shikamaru sighed and sat back on his hunches, closing his eyes and placing his fingertips together. It's been a day since Shino and Shikamaru last talked to Sakura about Ami and all three of them were currently sitting together under a large tree near their school. They were supposed to be eating lunch but none of them were hungry, Shikamaru had insisted on having a meeting on how to get Ami to stop hurting Sakura. As such they were spending their lunch hour do just that. Suddenly, Shino straightened on the bench beside Sakura, as if he could hear something the other two with him couldn't hear. At his movement, Sakura turned her attention towards the boy curiously, tilting her head to the side and revealing one pale eye.

"Ami cannot harm you if she can't get close to you," Shino said suddenly, bobbing his head in finalization. "Ami doesn't like me, she keeps a ten foot radius of me at all times."

"Huh?" Sakura blinked, feeling lost by Shino's words

"He's right," Shikamaru agreed, opening his eyes and nodding in agreement to Shino, "You only need to be in her line of sight and she won't go near Sakura."

"…uh…what?" Sakura questioned, turning her attention to Shikamaru, "You two aren't talking about what I think you are, are you?"

"Yes," Shikamaru bobbed his head in agreement, "We're going to protect you from Ami."

"Bu—"

"No buts," Shikamaru shook his head, "in order to pull this off, we'll need only one thing from you."

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side, blinking owlishly at the suddenly standing boy

"Call us by our names," Shikamaru said, turning to look at Shino with a smirk, "I'm sure Shino doesn't mind you using his name. Besides, when you call me by my last name, is sounds like you're talking to my father and not me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Sakura said worriedly, "That wasn't my intention."

"I know," Shikamaru yawned, "So just call me by my name, 'Shikamaru' will do just fine."

"Oh I can't do that," Sakura said hurriedly, "You're a clan heir and… and…uh" Sakura stuttered to a stop, seeing Shikamaru's red stained annoyed face, even if it was turned away from her she could still see his annoyance. A glance at Shino showed that the boy was disappointed with her as well, his face was completely hidden by his jacket and he refused to look in her direction. "S-So uh… c-can I use 'san' at the end of your names?" Shikamaru glanced back at Sakura, noting her unsure posture and slight stutter over her words, "…would that be okay?"

"That is acceptable," Shino bobbed his head courtly, surprising the other two, "why? Because we still don't know each other that well, baby steps are the first steps." Shikamaru and Sakura stared at Shino for a moment before snickering and smiling at each other.

"Of course Shino-san," Sakura giggled

"Regardless of what either one of you say I'm not using 'san'" Shikamaru sighed with a slight smile, "Sorry Sakura-_chan_, you're going to have to deal with it."

"That's acceptable… I suppose," Sakura agreed with a sigh

…

* * *

…

He sat patiently behind his desk, unperturbed by the resulting looks given to him; the Several Jonin standing in his office seemed unmoved by his words or even the blank face staring back at him. Admittedly, they were each the best in their respective fields: The best negotiator (basically an out of village Politian), the best Cryptologists, the best Fuin-master (Jiraiya actually looked insulted for once), the best Taijutsu master (Gai appeared to be the only one who didn't think he was joking, he was actually bouncing in excitement), and the current best of their village medics. Each of them were the best in their respective fields and none of them had any interest in teaching the advanced class (except for one), just for the simple fact that they would be replacing the children's entire academy schedule. The normal schedule for the academy was: History, Science, Math, writing, PE and an elective; what they would be supplying for the children were: Negotiations, cryptology, Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu, medical training and one class dedicated to whatever advanced form of training the children wanted to take. In other words, Hiruzen couldn't figure out what could replace the elective class so he was leaving it up to the children to vote on what they wanted to do for that hour.

"…You're kidding right lord Hokage?" one Jonin finally asked, his attention riveted onto his Hokage, sounding as if he couldn't believe his ears. "They're academy students Lord Hokage, surly you don't belief any of them are ready for such advanced training, most people aren't ready even when they become Chunin."

"These children aren't like their classmates," Hiruzen smiled patently, "These children are the best of their year and I have full intention of training them to the best of their abilities. You needn't worry; you won't be replacing all of the children's classes, at least not completely."

"You're rewriting the third and fourth year student's schedules completely to fit all of us in as their instructors," Another Jonin drawled

"I know that" Hiruzen's smile didn't drop, "However I'm not particularly focused on those children, it's their younger counter parts that interest me the most."

"The first and second years?" a familiar gray haired Jonin questioned, "What's so special about them?"

"Nothing much," someone mumbled, "but the first year is full of clan heirs and the second year has an abnormal amount of orphans."

Hiruzen nodded in agreement, "the orphans have no one to support them so I doubt, despite their amount of potential, they'll be recognized even if they make it to the final year. As for the first year… well surly you can figure that one out." Various whispers of 'Uzumaki' filled the office, some sounding doubtful others wiry, some as if they never heard of the name before or at least didn't know what to do with their village-prankster.

"So are you asking each of us to take on one class for each of the first and second year students just to make sure they won't quite too soon?" Hiruzen turned slightly to face his son, Asuma didn't particularly look happy with that explanation. "And the third and fourth years… we're supposed to train them too but you're not really expecting much from them?"

"That's not what I said," Hiruzen drawled, "I Said I wasn't worried about them. The third and fourth year students both know and understand about the Kyōbi incident, but that's not why I said what I did. I said it because they each have a particular skill they each excel in, they could become jonin's _if trained_ correctly, some could even become Anbu but again, that's all depending on how they're trained."

"…so, you're leaving their future's with us," Kakashi drawled from where he leaned against the office wall, "You're telling us to teach them so they can fill out our ranks better…"

"But why?" someone else asked, "Is the village in danger?" it was suddenly quiet as everyone slowly turned to look at Hiruzen for confirmation, each as wiry and afraid as the next, none of them wanted to prepare for another war, not when they had finally gotten to a relative station of peace with Kumo. Hiruzen closed his eyes as he blew out a long trail of smoke from his pipe, he had tried for a while to ignore the little whispers from outside of his village but it seemed that it didn't matter what he did, they would trickle back into his life.

"It is not just the village that is in danger," Hiruzen said at last, sinking slightly in his chair, for once feeling older than his already ancient age (in shinobi years that is), "the entire nation—all five great nations—are in danger of complete annihilation." An eruption of whispers flared into being with his shinobi, each whispering anxiously, worriedly, fearfully, they didn't want another war.

It would mean their children would have to fight, just as they had to

"Who could be a threat to the five great nations?" Kakashi asked, his posture striate for once, his hands fisted at his sides, what little of his visible face slightly paler than usual. "Who could be that strong?"

"A cult who worships someone named 'Jashin'," Hiruzen answered, he turned to look at Ibiki and let him continue where he left off. Everyone present was at the previous Jonin meeting where Crow interrupted with bound worshiper and jaw rattling information. Jiraiya was the only one who didn't know about the incident; however his vast spy network did keep him updated on the little inconvenience, so he knew enough about the cult, perhaps more than them.

"We must prepare our children for war with a god," Ibiki said as he stepped up to the plate, "And depending on how you view Kaguya Otsutsuki, that'll be two gods to deal with."

"…we're going to fight a god?" someone asked incredulously, "As in a real, no bones about it, _god_? A being from another _plane_ of existence?"

"Before her death, the woman Crow-san brought in yesterday, informed us that Kaguya Otsutsuki is the one who created us," Ibiki said as calmly as he could, "more specifically she said: You're creator shall be your destroyer." Again whispers erupted around them, the large group of specifically chosen Jonin turned to each other, whispering amongst themselves hurriedly and worriedly, as if they didn't know what to do any more.

"And that is why I chose you for the task of the advance class in the academy," Hiruzen said, drawing all attention onto himself, "Will you teach our young so that they may have a chance at surviving the wa—?" the room fell silent as the sound of hurried footsteps filled the air, shouts of 'lord Hokage' echoed in the hall outside the office; everyone turned to the door at the sound of someone skidding to a halt.

"Lord Hokage!" everyone flinched as someone with bloody hands slammed into the office, eyes wide, skin pale and sweaty, their hospital garb smeared with blood, filling the office with the rancid smell of fresh blood. "Lord Hokage that woman we were sent last night? She's gone!"

"What are you talking about?" Hiruzen asked, rising to his feet in alarm

"The woman who died in T&amp;I last night," the medic panted on the verge of panic, "the one wearing the triangle and circle pendent? She died last night and was taken to the morgue, this morning our morticians went in and never came out. I entered an hour ago for my own autopsy and found both of them dead and the woman gone, she's the only one missing!"

"Ibiki!" Hiruzen snapped

"On it!" the scared man was already half way out the office, "She's got approximately one hour head-start, so she's still in the village! We'll catch her, lord Hokage!"

"Lord Hokage," Hiruzen turned to look at the group of Jonin, each standing statue still, determination shinning in their eyes. "We'll teach the next generation all we know," Asuma said, standing stiffly at the head of the group of specialists, "If that woman's lose they'll need to know how to fight her without dyeing in the first five seconds."

"That woman took out Crow's team in minutes," one of the kunochi in the room pipped up, "They're the best of the best in Anbu, even Crow came back half dead. How are we, Jonin, ever going to compete with that? More importantly how can we possibly prepare them for that kind of opponent?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do," Kakashi said, straightening from his slouch, "We're going to prepare them for what we know will happen and pray they're smart enough to prepare for the unexpected."

"Is everyone on board then?" Hiruzen asked, face stony cold, onyx eyes locked onto the not sure kunochi

"…if all we can do is try," the woman started slowly, "then I guess that's better than nothing." She bobbed her head and straightened her spine, looking at her Hokage as she finalized her decision, "I'll teach the children what I can."

…

* * *

…

She remained still, hidden perfectly in the darkness of the slums of Konoha. She could see the shinobi in the distance, moving across the roofs in little more than blurs, each moving too quickly to really notice or care about one woman standing in the shadows of two buildings. It could've been because she was dressed scantly in a single piece of white cloth that barely covered anything between her shoulders and hips. It could've been the man she had her arms wrapped around, or the fact that said man had his head nestled against her neck and his arms roaming to dangerous places.

'_Sister_' the whisper sounded faintly in her mind, her eyes opened and for a moment they glowed a hunting silver

"_In Jashin-sama's name… die_," she whispered in the man's ear and felt elated when she felt the man's life force enter her body, needle thin slivers of blood dribbled down his nose and in barely a moment the man slumped against her and slid to the ground. She smirked and turned to walk away, only to stop dead in her tracks, her silver eyes turning black once more. Just a dozen or so feet away stood a young nine year old little girl, short dark violet hair held back by a single yellow hair band. The little girl's perfectly violet eyes stared blankly right back at her, her tanned cheeks flushed from running, her tanned skirt was torn and dirty, and her black long sleeve turtle neck was ripped at her elbows and covered in mud.

"AMI!" the girl flinched, snarled and started running again, not even stopping to look back at the woman she ran past. She watched as a man stumbled out of the nearby alleyway, more than just a little obviously drunk, a beer bottle in one hand and worn out baseball bat in the other. "Ami, ges~ ba—hick—ear!" the woman smiled seductively and walked out of the shadows, swinging her hips and clasping her hands behind her innocently, her voice humming out a familiar sounding melody from childhood.

"_Your fingertips across my skin  
The palm trees swaying in the wind  
Images_

_You sang me Spanish lullabies_  
_The sweetest sadness in your eyes_  
_Clever trick_

_Well, I never want to see you unhappy_  
_I thought you'd want the same for me_

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do"_

The man's attention was instantly on her, his black eyes widening at the sight of her, he was so surprised he dropped the bottle and the bat slipped from his thick sausage fingers

"_We walked along a crowded street  
You took my hand and danced with me  
Images_

_And when you left, you kissed my lips_  
_You told me you would never, never forget_  
_These images_

_Well, I'd never want to see you unhappy_  
_I thought you'd want the same for me_

_Goodbye, my almost lover_  
_Goodbye, my hopeless dream_  
_I'm trying not to think about you_  
_Can't you just let me be?_  
_So long, my luckless romance_  
_My back is turned on you_  
_Should've known you'd bring me heartache_  
_Almost lovers always do"_

Her voice was velvety soft, sounding in all men's ears, calling them out to see her; however she didn't want every man in the village pinning after her, just this one man with midnight-black hair.

"_I cannot go to the ocean  
I cannot drive the streets at night  
I cannot wake up in the morning  
Without you on my mind  
So you're gone and I'm haunted  
And I bet you are just fine  
Did I make it that easy to walk right in and out  
Of my life?_

_Goodbye, my almost lover  
Goodbye, my hopeless dream  
I'm trying not to think about you  
Can't you just let me be?  
So long, my luckless romance  
My back is turned on you  
Should've known you'd bring me heartache  
Almost lovers always do"_

"Whe~res~ yo~ bes?" the man asked, his voice slurred heavily, blurring his words together

"I've been here," She purred, lacing her arms around his neck, ignoring his hands that clasped her rear and jerked her that much closer to him; his rancid breath washing over her skin. He made her sick, she hated this kind of man the most but men like him were also the most gullible—they were the easiest to control.

"eyes~ bes~ wai-fing fs~ you~" he slurred again, pressing his alcohol stained mouth to her neck, only to trace sticky kisses up to her mouth. She smirked, her eyes flaring white washed silver as she let him stick his tong in her mouth, her body not moving as he realized that something was horrendously wrong. She watched his dark eyes widen in realization, his fingers tightened on her arms but didn't let go, she watched in sadistic pleasure as he fought to keep his chakra inside his body. Much to her pleasure, his drunken state hampered his ability to control his chakra, her ability to steal life forces prevailed and the man soon died.

"Good night," she smirked, turning on her heal and walked away, quickly morphing back into the shadows before any shinobi could see her. She walked down a block, keeping close to the shadows just for safety and stopped just at the edge of the alleyway. She smiled despite herself and looked back over her shoulder, of course she didn't see anyone worth worrying over, and by that she meant the same little purple haired girl she saw a few moments ago. The girl was trying to be discreet but hiding behind a dumpster was hardly discreet, so was wearing shoes but she let that slide considering the girl didn't appear to have any female role models.

"I know you're there," she said, turning further into the alleyway and leaning against the filthy brick wall, "Come on out little one."

"…who… who are you?" the girl asked, peeking out from behind the large dumpster, staring at her with narrowed violet orbs.

"Hm, I suppose I can answer that," She hummed, smirking back at the girl, "on the condition you help me."

"…what do you need?" she asked suspiciously, violet orbs narrowing instantly. The young girl was unaware of just how much that look reminded the woman of her master, the way the lights gleamed back at her, darkening the violet iris into near perfect blackness. She stared at the girl, looking for anything that reminded her of the man she knew so little of. The girl's tanned skin could've come from the red head she met nearly nine years ago, the girl was the right age as well, even her violet eyes reminded her of her master. It was possible the girl she was staring at was the same girl she's been searching for, but there remained something off with her, something almost natural. Well, natural too her which would mean _un_natural to anyone else and that one thought was enough to give her pause.

"I need a place to stay," the woman began slowly, "Take me to your home and I'll let you live."

"…Death would be a greater mercy," the girl turned away from her, not realizing just how fine the woman's hearing was, "Why do you want a place to stay? And why should I help you?"

"Because the man I just killed," she replied calmly, watching the girl flinch at the reminder, "I take it he was your relative?"

"…my father," she confirmed, "So what?"

"Any other child would've started crying or calling for help," the woman smirked at her, as if finding this information amusing, "you did nothing but watch."

"…So?" the girl asked, eyes narrowing once more

"Hmm," She lifted off the wall and started walking towards the girl, ignoring how she flinched back, "It tells me you have no love for the man, it tells me you value no one but yourself, it tells me…" She stopped and looked back at the girl, "It tells me your heart is the same as my own. That is why I ask for your help" her silver eyes were dancing in the pale moonlight that dared to peak through the buildings, lighting the woman up like some kind of goddess.

…_Kaguya-hime_, the girl's eyes widened as she took in a sharp breath of air, she recalled the vague memories of the old stories her elder sister used to read to her.

"Well girl?" the woman asked, staring at her with glowing moon white eyes, "Will you help me?"

She couldn't possibly deny the great moon goddess

…

* * *

…

Ibiki tried very hard not to flinch back from the smell of rotting flesh assaulting his nose when he entered the back door to the morgue. He opened his eyes and stared dully at the bustling bodies of the morticians, trying desperately to remain calm amongst the blood splatter staining the room. In the center of the room, laying prone beside a spotless steal bed, were two crimson piles of something unidentifiable. Well, they were unidentifiable to Ibiki, the two medics tending to the two piles of mush seemed to know what the piles were. Ibiki walked forward, trying to ignore the putrid smell of blood, observing the blood splatter surrounding the mushy piles and something seemingly out of place beside the revolving doors of the morgue. It seemed small and insignificant but it was strange to see a pile of what appeared to be dirt beside the doors out of the way of traffic.

"What is this?" Ibiki asked, turning to look towards the nearest medic. The woman sniffed and turned to look down at the little pile, she gave a bitter smile towards the pile of dirt.

"It's human ash," the woman answered with a sniff, "the black specs is dried blood, the white portion is bone dust, the grayish powder is flesh."

"…that's morbid," Ibiki drawled, "How'd you find that out?"

"My parents run a crematorium," she turned teary eyes towards him. He stared at her for a moment before nodding in acceptance; he turned his attention back to the pile of dust.

"…who's going to clean that up?"

…

* * *

…

He glowered at the report given to him. While a blessing that Crow's team didn't survive their previous assignment from the Hokage, it also hampered his plans with the Uchiha clan. It meant that the original dead line had to be pushed back, especially since the only one who had a fraction of hope for cleaning that accursed clan up was in the hospital suffering from chakra exhaustion and torture. It was imposable to know if the boy would make it out by the end of the year, people were already saying he was going to die like the one teammate he managed to drag back. Sadly Sparrow's wounds were by far too severe for her to survive the physical drag and the unknown _thing_ sucking her chakra away until she was little more than a mummified corpse. Honestly it was a little disturbing how tiny that woman got when every last ounce of chakra was forced out of her body. It was assumed that her opponent, a woman from some strange cult, was responsible for her death but because said woman escaped their custody under the guise of being dead, no one knew where she went. Some thought she was still in the village, the multiple corpses she left behind in the village only proved their point, and some thought she had someone left behind in the village to make it look like she was in the village.

Plus there was the lovely mass of destruction she left behind in the morgue; no one even knew who that pile of human ash was. He had a vague idea of who it was. There were multiple teams outside of the village who hadn't returned yet, several of them were found dead, but there was one man from a team that was found half dead. He was able to remain alive just long enough for an Anbu team to relay the news of his teammate's disappearance. The man even described the woman who attacked them, however his description couldn't possibly be right; there was no way for one person to be in two places at the same time.

"Danzo-sama," he turned at the sound of his name, glancing briefly at the two young men kneeling off to the side, "Our mission was a success."

"Hmm," Danzo blinked at them before he smirked to himself, understanding filling him, "I see." He turned away from the two men, his coal eyes glowing ominously in the darkness of his office. "I have a mission for you both," Danzo said calmly, "you where there when Itachi-kun brought in that woman to Hiruzen yes?"

"Yes sir," the two agreed together

"I belief she has a twin sister somewhere outside of the village," Danzo informed them calmly, "find her and kill her."

"Understood!" they were gone before their voices could echo

_You will pay for ruining my plans,_ Danzo thought, glaring down at the last image taken of the woman brought in, _and if not… perhaps I'll have you finish what Itachi started._

…

* * *

…

**By the way, should I do a time skip of two years or just make time steadily increase little by little?**

**What do you want to see our ingenious little brats do next?**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	7. Chapter 7

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 7: Advanced class

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"Oh geez little cuz, what did you get yourself into?" it took everything Itachi had not to groan as his boisterous cousin walked through the hospital doors like nothing in the world was wrong. He cracked open his eyes and glared at the taller male who stopped beside his bed and whistled loudly at the damage his body was in. "Oh wow Itachi-chan you really screwed up this time didn't you?"

"Do not make me get out of this bed," Itachi replied calmly, Shisui's brow spaz-ed out on his forehead before settling down again.

"Nice try little cuz but if Aunt Mikoto sees you out of bed, she'll kill us both," Shisui chuckled back, well, he tried to chuckle back. The mere thought of Itachi being out of bed and Mikoto walking in on them in some sort of fight was a scary thought all on its own.

"…where is Sparrow?" Itachi asked as he took a deep breath and settled further into the full body cast covering his entire body for the exception of his head.

"Your teammate?" Shisui asked in interest, "the one you dragged back?" Itachi hummed in agreement, Shisui fell silent trying his best to distract himself with anything that wasn't related to the little spit-fire kunochi.

"Shisui-nii," Itachi whispered, stilling his elder cousin, "where is she?" Shisui sighed and plopped himself down in a chair near his cousin's bed

"She didn't make it," Shisui replied as calmly as he could, "She had internal damage that should've been taken care of right away, plus there was the strange thing going on with her chakra… sorry Itachi."

"…it… was expected," Itachi replied as calmly as he could. Shisui saw right through his cousin's too-calm façade. Sparrow was the second youngest member in Anbu and the one who could relate to Itachi the most, she was strong in the sense that a single look could castrate most men and she was week in the sense that her punches never had much power. She wasn't physically strong, not with her week bone structure, she was however very strong in setting up traps, verbal debates, most weapons and she had a minor talent for healing. Sparrow was also the only one on Itachi's team who could match his speed, not his power but defiantly his speed. Being only a few years older than Itachi, Sparrow was also his confident, when he needed someone else's opinion (and not Shisui's sarcastic one) Itachi went to Sparrow. They were close like that and there were times when Shisui didn't think there was something more going on between them but he never dared ask. With her dead, Itachi had basically lost a portion of himself with her; she was his best female friend and his only friend that wasn't related to the clan. The only person he truly trusted with the same amount, if not more, trust than Shisui.

"Don't give me that crap," Shisui sighed, leaning further back in his chair, "besides I've been ordered to catch you up on what you've missed out on."

"The reason for capturing that lunatic?" Itachi asked, his eyes popping open to lock on his cousin

"So you don't know," Shisui sighed, before smirking as he realized something, "I thought words like 'lunatic' were unreasonable and—"

"The point Shisui," Itachi sighed, slouching against his pillow

"Right, right," Shisui chuckled for a moment before taking a deep breath and becoming serious. "Lord Hokage is talking about the first five nation alliance to destroy a cult that the woman you brought in was apart of."

…

* * *

…

"Aunty," Ami called, opening her bedroom door and stepping out into the rest of her apartment, "Aunty? Are you in?" they had decided the night before of the woman's relation to her and the reason she would be remaining in the same apartment. When they had been caught returning the previous morning by the land lord, Ami had automatically called the woman 'Aunt' having no idea what else to call the woman. That was how the story of her father's sister, Ren Nanami, was born.

"I'm in the kitchen Ami-chan," that was unusual, Ami didn't figure that the woman was the stay-at-home-type, "We have guests." It was as if in answer to Ami's silent question and it made the young girl walk that much faster to the kitchen, peaking around the corner of her home to look at her 'aunt'. Inside the kitchen sat her 'aunt' at the table with a cup of tea, two Anbu agents stood at the glass back door, as if waiting on instructions for their next mission. Ami turned to look at her aunt in confusion, it didn't take her long to hurry past the half wall and stand close to the black haired woman's side, using her like some sort of human shield. The woman herself turned in her seat and smiled amusedly at her, her long black hair was pulled back into a high curly ponytail; her curly bangs were brushed to the side so they brushed the edges of her pretty black eyes. She was dressed in a pretty white quipo dress, with a slit that reached up to her waist, forcing her to wear tight black leather shorts and a pair of black heels. On the table were two plates of rice and what looked like freezer burnt slices of some ancient fish, both plates were flanked by two small cups of what Ami assumed to be tea.

"Ami Nanami, we have questions for you," one Agent said, turning his masked face towards her, black eyes narrowing as he watched Ami tuck herself closer to the woman's side.

"What?" Ami asked suspiciously, purple eyes narrowed as she half-heartedly hid behind the woman. It was thanks to her father that she never trusted men again and the teachers at the academy have only strengthened her hatred of men.

"When was the last time you saw your father?" the man asked, Ami pursed her lips and shrugged, hiding herself just that little bit further behind the woman.

"I'm sorry sir," the woman sighed, closing her eyes briefly before she looked back at the two men apologetically. "I'm afraid my brother isn't home often and when he is, I try to keep Ami-chan away."

"Why?" the second one asked, suspicion lacing his voice like acid to glass. The woman's eyes glanced meaningfully to the corner of the kitchen, where a bloody baseball bat remained half hidden in the corner, then she looked at the door to the laundry room just beyond the table and back door. The second Anbu glanced at his partner before he moved further into the house and opened the door, he imminently slammed it shut and stiffly returned to his partner's side.

"I'm sorry sir," the woman said again, "I'm afraid my brother isn't actually… _stable_, so I try to keep Ami-chan away for her safety." Both men glance at the bloody baseball bat, "I didn't say I was successful," she said defensively, "Sometimes he over powers me." She pulled back one wide sleeve of her dress, revealing thick purple bruises lining the length of her pale limb. Both men looked at each other, nodded and looked back at the remaining 'Nanami' relatives.

"I'm sorry to report that your brother, Kazehi Nanami, was found dead this morning," the man in the bear mask said courtly, his voice sounding anything but remorseful. The woman straightened in her seat, her eyes widening slightly, Ami jerked at the proclamation and turned to look at the woman in alarm.

"I see," she said, sniffing as she reached behind herself and tugged Ami into her lap, "What now?"

"…I don't understand," the man said, blinking dully behind his bear mask

"I said what now," she repeated, her arms tightening slightly around Ami, as if to protect her from something only she could see, "Are you going… are you going to take her away?" she sniffed, tears threatening the edges of her eyes as she looked up at the two masked men, "Are you going to take Ami away from me?"

"No!" Ami shouted, turning in the woman's lap to wrap her arms around her aunt's neck, "No Aunty, no! Don't let them take me!" _you're the nicest person I've ever met…_

"No one's going to take you away," the second agent said quickly, "we do however have to ask some questions… you're not going to like them…" Ami turned teary eyes towards them, burying her face into her aunt's neck, her bottom lip trembling as she looked miserably at them. "I promise you, we won't take you away from your Aunt Ren," Ami stared disbelieving at him, her arms tightening around her aunt before she turned away and buried her face in her aunt's neck again.

"…My brother…" the woman's voice shook as she tightened her arms on the little purple haired girl again, she tried to speak several times but her jaw jerked to the side and she found herself unable to speak up, like she couldn't continue her sentence.

"Do you know any of the bar's he might've frequented?" the bear-masked man asked slowly

"No," the woman answered with a near snap to her voice, "I try to stay out of his way when I can." her bruises said she wasn't real successful, epically if she tried to protect Ami. Ami's sleeveless pajama dress with its too-short skirt revealed her own set of scares and bruises, telling the two wiry agents that the two females were at the complete mercy of Kazehi. With his job at the nearest construction company and his ever present baseball bat, few in Konoha's slums dared to cross him and fewer would have the will to help the girls.

"Do you know if he," the second agent paused, one hand scratching nervously at the back of his neck, "did he… ever bring anyone here?"

"Not that I know of," the woman answered honestly, "I spend most of my time recovering in the bedroom. I rarely have the opportunity to get out."

"How often do you get out?" the bear-masked man asked

"Not often," she replied courtly, turning red rimmed eyes on him

"I'll need an exact date," the man replied. The woman snorted and shook her head, turning away from both men, as if insulted by the request

"I just told you I spend most of my time in the back trying not to puke and you want the exact date I last left this place?" she asked, turning angry but teary eyes onto the men, her jaw trembled and her lips quivered, "half the time I don't even know the day much less the month, just how do you expect me to know the _exact_ time I last left this place?" it looked like the bear masked man wanted to say more but his partner placed a hand on his shoulder to cut him off, both men stared at each other before the second one shook his head and pushed his partner out the back door.

"We're sorry for your misfortune ladies," the man said, bowing his head in respect to them, "we're sorry for your loss." The woman gave him a disbelieving look while Ami whimpered and curled herself closer to the woman, body trembling as she tried to suppress her natural reaction to cry. The man made a sound, like he wanted to say something else, before he sighed and disappeared from their balcony; leaving both girls behind to fend for themselves.

"Daddy's dead," Ami whispered in the woman's ear

"…yes," she bobbed her head and whipped one hand against her eye, she hated that part of acting, the necessity to cry was too annoying.

"…It wasn't a dream?" Ami whispered, something broken sounding her voice

"…you watched me kill him," she replied softly, turning to frown at the back of Ami's head

"I-I know," Ami stuttered, "B-but he… he's still daddy." The little girl just sounded miserable, so she did what she believed any other woman would've done in her position. Her arms tightened around Ami and let the little girl cry hysterically on her shoulder for the following hour, never once did she move in discomfort or murmur words of comfort or even say anything about the amount of snot and droll soaking the shoulder of her dress.

_Jashin-sama, can this girl be your daughter?_ The woman thought, taking in a deep breath to steady herself

'_Nee-sama,_' she stiffened slightly at the whisper in her mind, instantly she was paying completely attention to her little sister, '_we've got confirmation of Hime._'

'_Where is she?_' she thought, calmly raking her finger nails through the little girl's short locks

'_She's in the land of fire_'

So, Ami Nanami was truly Jashin-sama's daughter?

Or was she Hidan-Ōji-sama's daughter?

In the end Ren decided that it didn't matter, Ami was a child of her people and that meant it was Ren's responsibility to raise Ami and teach the girl everything she knew. Jashin-sama placed the girl in her life for a reason and Ren believed it was because the girl was who she's been searching for the past six and half years.

"I will protect you," she whispered in Ami's ear, "I'll protect you forever and ever." That meant she must never get caught by Konohagakure's shinobi, she would need to play the part of every Konohagakure woman, more specifically a civilian woman. She must not allow Ami know about Jashin until she is a fully fledge Genin, in other words, there was little she could teach her… well, in Taijutsu and Genjutsu there was little she would be able to teach Ami. But she could teach her a few Chakra-building-tips and maybe a few elemental Ninjutsus, she might even be able to get away with a few pressure points or joint lock tricks.

…

* * *

…

One month later

…

* * *

…

It had been exactly one month since their academy wide advance class test, no one really knew if they passed or failed, it was assumed that no one was able to get both ribbons from the brothers (no one stepped forward saying otherwise). Not a single person in all of their academy had succeeded in the given task, so no one knew who would end up in the class and who wouldn't. Some thought that those who even got just one ribbon would be permitted to enter the advanced class, other's thought that since no one got both ribbons, no one was going into the advanced class—it wouldn't be fair for those who got one ribbon. That particular month had been riddled with numerous tests, each as different and unique as the next and not one child in the academy was able to piece the long string of tests together as the continuation of the same test for the advanced class. Now, one month after meeting the Kazehitoha brother's, every student in the academy stood in the courtyard of the academy, staring wide eyed and dumbfounded at a large board stretching nearly fifteen feet long and six feet tall. The board held every single student's name, year, grad average, and overall grade in each subject of the test for the advanced class. Far to the left, at what appeared to be the very front of the long list of names; stood another board with twelve columns each with nine rows of names.

The very top of this single board read 'Accepted Advanced Class Participants'

Sakura stood at the front of the steadily growing rows of children in front of the Advanced Class Acceptance list; her green eyes were wide and clued to the title of the board. She recognized a few names from a few of her older classmates, the familiar Hyūga name of a few outstanding older classmate, a few Yamanaka's, Nohara's, and other's she didn't particularly care reading about. What had the little six year old's full attention was in the first Colom of names, the Colom itself started off with three familiar looking names:

Year one:

_1) Shikamaru Nara_

_2) Shino Aburame_

_3) Sakura Haruno_

_I…_ she re-read her name a second, third, fourth time, _I made it?_

"Congrats Sakura!" Said girl jumped as a familiar blonde latched herself around her, "you made it! I don't know how, but you made it!"

"Y-Yamanaka-san," Sakura stuttered, turning her wide eyes onto the bubbly heiress, as if she didn't know what to do. She hadn't seen the young heiress much in the past month, plenty of Shikamaru and Shino but not much of the blonde. It wasn't like she was friends with the two boys but it wasn't like they were being discreet in following her home or making rather obvious attempts to keep Ami away from her; they did try to make an effort not to get seen by her… not that it worked but she did have to give them some credit. Her bruises had all but disappeared now, her scratches didn't leave minute scares and even some of her old scares had faded some.

"Don't look at me like that Missy!" Ino grinned widely at Sakura, breaking the pinkette from her train of thought, "Just you wait! In three months there'll be another test and you'll see! I'm gonna be in the same class as you and Hinata-chan for sure!"

"Huh? Who?" Sakura questioned without thinking about it, the blonde looked at her like she had two heads

"She's the girl with white eyes and short navy hair," Ino huffed

"Oh!" Sakura gasped her eyes widening in remembrance

"She got fifth place but she's still in the advanced class," Ino continued, not waiting for Sakura to get her bearing straight; again the blonde pointed at the board in question, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I'm going to pass the next test! Just you wait! Sasuke-kun likes smart girls so I'm going to be in the advanced class too! And I bet he'll be there too! Honestly I can't belief he didn't get in, how'd he NOT get accepted? Is it like a sign of the apocalypse or something?"

"…what about Shikamaru-san?" Sakura asked, turning to look up at the board, silently wondering who 'Sasuke' was. "He got first place…"

"I think that's because he actually bothered with trying this past month," Ino huffed, crossing her arms in defiance, or at least, what little of it she could muster up for the change of subject. "I don't know why but he's suddenly spending more time studying and reading then playing with Chōji and me, heck even Chōji's spending more time practicing his family's techniques then playing with _me_." Sakura felt the urge to tell the blonde that it might've been their way of telling her to start practicing her family techniques _herself_ instead of playing silly games, but was smart enough to snap her mouth shut instead. There was no need to fan the flames, least they explode and consume her.

"Ah look it," Sakura smiled, pointing at the bottom of their first year Colom, "Uzumaki-san made it too."

"Huh?" Ino looked at the last name and openly gapped, third from the bottom row sat the infamous prankster's name. "He passed?!" Ino shrieked loudly, "How did he pass but not me?!"

"It might've been the special class he took part of," Sakura replied, "They did a special class for some kids who have too much energy to sit in a classroom all day. Uzumaki-san said he had been recruited into the class for the sake of the tests, according to him it was a lot of fun and he ranked number three in their preliminary rounds."

"Seriously?" Ino huffed, putting her hands on her hips, "I can't belief he had to take a special class and he still bested _my_ scores." Suddenly Ino stiffened, her eyes widened slightly, her attention was completely riveted on the bottom portion of the board.

"Well did you team up with anyone?" Sakura asked, thinking the blonde was still concerned with not getting in, "That was the point of a lot of our tests…"

"…Sakura-chan, what are you talking about?" Ino asked, turning to raise an eyebrow at her

"Um… a lot of the tests that were stationed outside," Sakura elaborated, "A lot of them were based on Teamwork." Ino stared at Sakura for a moment, her eyes slightly narrowed as she thought about everything that happened in the past month, before she groaned loudly and slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Dang it!" Ino hissed, grinding her teeth together in frustration, "I knew I should've worked with someone but I thought I was doing okay on my own!" Sakura couldn't hide her soft smile or even stifle the soft snicker that escaped her, "Oh!" Ino looked up at Sakura in realization, startling the shorter girl, "Who did you team up with?"

"Huh?" Sakura blinked in surprise, for some reason she was expecting a different question

"Who did you team up with in those tests?" Ino elaborated

"Oh… uh, I have Shikamaru-san and Shino-san in a lot of my classes," Sakura explained with a shy smile as she ducked her head slightly, trying to hide her feint blush behind her long pink bangs.

"Ah-ha!" Ino thrust a finger into Sakura's face, startling her a second time and preventing her from continuing her sentence, "I knew it! I thought I was imagining it the first time but I wasn't!"

"I-Imagine what?" Sakura asked, stepping back to get the blonde's finger out of her face

"You said Shikamaru's and Shino's names!" Ino answered in an accusing tone of voice, "but you still refer to me as 'Yamanaka'!" Sakura stared blankly at Ino for a moment, looking as if she didn't understand the blonde's sudden cause of ire; she blinked and tilted her head to the side.

"And?" Sakura questioned dully

"Why do you call them by their first names but call _me_ by my last name?" Ino asked, pulling her hand back to place it on her hip, glare-pouting at the smaller pinkette standing in front of her

"Th-they asked me too," Sakura answered simply, "I-I see them so often I didn't think it could possibly hurt anything…"

"Well it did hurt something!" Ino huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from Sakura slightly

"I-it did?" Sakura asked worriedly, "What did it hurt?" inside, Sakura was trying to figure out how calling two boys by their first names could hurt something or anyone for that matter, sadly she wasn't coming up with anything that could possibly been wounded by her 'mistake'.

"It hurts _my_ pride!" Ino informed her, turning her face further away from Sakura, "I've known you longer but you still don't call me by my first name. It's always Yamanaka this and Yamanaka that!" Ino turned teary blue-teal eyes towards Sakura, "Why don't you call me by my first name?" The wounded puppy look stabbed repeatedly at Sakura's soft heart, the tear-speckled eyes asking her to say something else, anything that could possibly turn that sad look into a happy one.

"but you don't know me," Sakura said without thinking, blinking dumbly when she registered just what she had said, even Ino stared in surprise at Sakura. "I-I-I mean! We're not friends! Or–or even a-a-acquaintances! We-we have one class together!" Ino's previously sad look turned more and more devastated looking with everything Sakura hurriedly sputtered out, trying to reason out her reason for calling the blonde by her last name. Sadly, Ino ended up letting a few tears fall before burying her face in her hands crying softly. Sakura imminently started to panic, she's never had to deal with someone crying before and she's never been the cause of someone's tears.

"Ino quite it already," both girls stiffened at the soft drawl, Sakura blinked repeatedly and turned towards the two familiar looking boys making their way towards them. "You're making Sakura-san cry, stop it before you end up going too far." Ino's head snapped up and imminently she was sticking her face close to Sakura's, even going so far as to lifting the pinkette's hair out of her view.

"I'm sorry," Ino said after a moment of silence between them, she pulled away from the pinkette, her previous tears gone and her eyes dry. "I hadn't meant to make you cry…" Sakura blinked dumbly at the blonde, not sure what she was talking about until she felt something roll down her cheek. Blinking in confusion Sakura quickly whipped the wet thing with the back of her hand, showing bewildered green eyes a smear of something that looked a lot like water.

"You'll find that Ino dose that a lot," Shikamaru yawned tiredly

"I do not!" Ino screeched loudly, her anger suddenly blooming full force

"She usually resorts to dramatics to get what she wants," Shikamaru continued without pause, as if he was unconcerned with his childhood friend's sudden excuse to scream and shout at him. As Sakura watched Ino shout at Shikamaru, and Shikamaru ignore said blonde, Sakura felt someone lean against her back. Twisting her head slightly, Sakura could see the pale tan of a familiar looking coat and knew imminently that Shino was the one standing at her back. She smiled at the quiet boy's attempt to make her feel slightly better and leaned just that little bit back, just enough to keep their shoulder's touching, her way of silently telling him that she was okay. She felt and heard more than seen Shino nod, she wasn't sure what had his undivided attention but she wasn't really worried, mostly because he could handle himself in a fight if he had to. His constant efforts to keep her safe during their physical Ed training only proved his ability to both look after her and himself, she knew without a doubt that he would make a splendid shinobi.

Unknown to Sakura, Shino stood at her back because he knew his jacket was just big enough to hide her from a certain glaring purple haired girl. As such, he took the full brunt of the girl's glaring and when it looked like she was about to make a scene, he simply lifted one hand, pointed at her and let a few of his bugs crawl out of his jacket and onto his hand. Ami imminently scrambled back words with a low growl, her face twisting into a snarl. Suddenly she smirked viciously at him, her purple eyes dancing as she mouthed a few words. Shino's eyes narrowed behind his thick glasses, his head shook from side to side gently, and a few of his insects traveled out of his pant leg and hurried toward Ami, latching onto her clothes. By the end of the day they would make it into her hair and when she came to school tomorrow his bugs would report back to him anything she's done that day—epically if it concerned Sakura.

…

* * *

…

Hidan took in a deep breath, his eyes closed as he tried to envision just what his master was trying to tell him. He was rudely interrupted by a fist slamming into the back of his skull.

"Ow damn it!" Hidan swore as he snapped around to glare furiously at his partner, "What F*** is it F*** now?!" Kakuzu stared dully back at him, as if he hadn't just punched him

"Are you done here?" Kakuzu asked lowly, "You slaughtered everyone here, happy?" Hidan snorted and glanced up at a nearby tree, a smirk on his face as he watched thick red rivers cascade down the light brown bark.

"Jashin-sama is very pleased," Hidan said as he reverted back into his original form, yanking out the stake from his heart while he was at it, "He gave me my first clue."

"I thought you'd find your first clue here?" Kakuzu sighed heavily, glancing back the few ground level houses still burning in the summer sun, "they had nice bounties here…" he never would've guessed so many Nuke-nin fled to this brightly lit forest.

"This is the famed spring forest of Fire country," Hidan chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet, "the key has to be around here somewhere…" Kakuzu turned very slowly towards his partner, his green eyes hard like steel, his body still like stone.

"…you don't know what you're looking for," Kakuzu said at last, watching his partner still, "You dragged us here for _nothing_."

"…" Hidan turned slowly towards his partner, his eyes slightly wider than usual, "…Uh…"

"Hidan!" Said blond started running as fast as he could, Kakuzu hot his tail. Needless to say, Kakuzu kept Hidan's head hanging from his hip and firmly gagged; the blonde's body was safely sealed away inside a scroll.

…

* * *

…

**This one's a little long, I hope you mind**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	8. Chapter 8

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 8: Advanced class

Koomahana

**This one is a little longer then I originally planned, hope you don't mind**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Sakura calmly walked into the Shinobi Academy office, Shino and Shikamaru on either side of her, and swiveled her head from side to side to look for an adult she could talk to. The first person she saw was the receptionist, but it appeared the woman was busy with phone calls, leaving Sakura unwilling to distract her.

"Great," Shikamaru drawled with a yawn, "Just where are we supposed to get our new class schedules?"

"…Perhaps we should seek advice from the principle?" Shino questioned, head tilted towards the office with the closed door. Sakura looked at the door before shrugging carelessly, Shikamaru nodded in agreement and the three of them steadily walked towards the principal's office.

"_Are you out of your bloody mind woman?_" the three children froze just out of reach of the door, their eyes widening at the hard voice in side, "_I'm not gonna let you near the children, no matter what you threaten me with!_"

"_Like you have a choice in the matter!_" a woman's voice growled back, low and deep and sounding as if it was a silent threat itself.

"_I said_ no!" the door opened and out stumbled a young woman dressed in large tan trench coat and a tan mini-skirt, "Get out of this academy or so help me—ACK!" the children flinched together as they stared wide eyed at the tall man in charge of the academy, they didn't have to be geniuses to know that he had shoved the woman out of his office regardless of who she was. "Children," the principle looked surprised and horrified at the same time, "What are you three doing here? You're supposed to be getting your new class schedules… today…" he sighed as he realized just how busy his Secretary was; she barely had the time to answer one phone before the other one started ringing.

"Oh? Are you three in the advanced class?" the woman asked, crouching low to look into Sakura's face with a kind smile

"Oi!" the principle barked, his eyes widening as he snapped back around to face her, "Away from them Mitarashi-san!"

"All I said was 'hi'," the woman smirked up at him, purple eyes dancing in amusement

"I said out!"

"Are… are you our new teacher?" Sakura asked softly, head tilting cutely to the side, big green eyes peaking shyly out from her curtain of bangs

"Y—"

"No!" the principle interrupted the woman hurriedly, ignoring the glare she gave him, "She's just visiting and now her visit is over so now she's leaving!"

"What? No way—"

"I'm sure you're wanted back at the T&amp;I building as soon as possible," the principle interrupted again, pushing at her back to get her away from the three curious children.

"Oh come on!" Mitarashi groaned, digging her heels into the floor to make it that much more difficult for him to push her out of the front office, "All I wanted was to meet some of them!"

"You've met three of them, now leave," the instructor barked again

"I didn't even get their names!" Mitarashi whined as she stumbled to a stop outside the office doors

"And if I had my way, you never would've seen them," the principle shot back, slamming the doors in her face

"…You realize she's not leaving right?" the secretary asked before flinching with the ring of the phone, "Hello? Yes, please hold!" the next phone rang, "Please hold!" she reached for the next ringing phone, looking panicked, "Please ho— ….I have five phones ringing off the hook, if you have a problem come in and talk to the principle!" she hung up and reached for another ringing phone

"Oi! Leave me out that mess!" the principal barked as he marched over and grabbed a phone, "Hello, Shinobi Academy how can I help you?" the three children watched at the man physically flinched at the sheer volume of the caller's voice, they could hear the angry voice from where they were standing on the other side of the room.

"…perhaps we should go to our normal classes?" Sakura suggested, looking back at both boys, "maybe they have our new class sheets?"

"Better than watching this mayhem," Shikamaru drawled, heading for the door

"Ah wait!" Sakura took a step forward, one hand out stretched, eyes wide

"Huh?" Shikamaru pushed the door open, his face turned towards his friends but the door wide open. Sakura and Shino stared dully at the empty space beyond the door, both having expected the strange woman to be standing on the other side. However, the hall beyond was empty. The three children stepped out and looked around curiously, wondering where the strange woman was.

"She's gone?" Sakura questioned softly

"But the lady said she'd still be here," Shikamaru whispered, he turned and looked at Shino, who stared dully back at him before shrugging clueless-ly. Shikamaru and Sakura shared a look before they both shrugged and turned towards their left, intending to go to their first hour. Half way there, Shikamaru turned to look at Shino and Sakura, watching how Shino was holding out a small blue bug for Sakura to stare at while they walked.

"It's very rare beetle called 'Aoishi' meaning blue stone," Shino said as he walked beside her. Shikamaru threw his hands behind his head as they walked, easily hiding the smile he wore, listening silently to Shino's explanation of the tiny blue insect.

…

* * *

…

Iruka sighed as he stared at the five sheets of paper in his hand, the re-scheduling of five of his students, two of whom would no longer be in his class. It was these two that had him worried, Sakura and Ami didn't get along, in fact he prayed that only Sakura would get into the advanced class; the less contact those two had the better off they both were. Granted when Sakura had arrived she was quickly placed almost in two honor's classes, his being one of them, and now she would be transferred out of his class and there for, out of his protection. His classroom was a safe-haven for the pinkette, now he could only pray that the teachers replacing him would protect her as well.

"I-Iruka-sensei?" the familiar whisper soft voice woke the young chunin from his thoughts

"Ah Sakura-chan, you're early," Iruka smiled patiently at the shy little girl, "hm? Oh good morning Shino-kun"

"Good morning sensei," the boy bobbed his head courtly, letting his teacher's attention drift their half asleep friend

"Shikmaru-kun, you're early as well," Iruka smiled at the three children, confusion filling him as he glanced at Shikamaru meaningfully, he knew full well the boy would rather sleep all day then come to school.

"Uh-um… Iruka-sensei," Sakura whispered again, fidgeting when he brought his attention back onto her, "Um… our new classes… do you know about them?"

"Yes," Iruka sighed, pulling back to grab and hold up the three schedules she was talking about. "You better hurry Sakura-chan," Iruka said as he passed the sheets of paper over, Sakura looked up at him in confusion, "your new first period starts soon. It's in room 302, third floor."

"Thank you Sensei," Sakura smiled, she bowed lowly and started to turn away, only to pause as realization dawned on her. "Sensei," Sakura called softly, "Does this mean that… you're not my teacher anymore?"

"I'm still your teacher," Iruka reassured, "Whenever you need me, I'll be here for you okay? Don't forget that"

"Yes sensei," Sakura smiled and started to move again, only to realize that Shino and Shikmaru weren't following her. She turned again to look back at both boys, her fingers twisting together, her eyes staring at both of them in fearful hope.

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan," Iruka spoke when he saw that neither boy was looking at her, to disappointed in themselves to tell her the news. "I'm afraid Shikamaru and Shino didn't score high enough on their tests, they didn't get a re-schedule like you, they're staying here."

"Bu-but they placed first and second on the board," Sakura protested softly, "Only the best students get those ranks."

"The three of you have the _overall_ best scores, that's true," Iruka agreed with a soft smile, "however they didn't get the scores required for this particular advanced class. Out of the five of you accepted in my class, only two of you were able to transfer out of my class."

"Who's the other one?" Sakura asked curiously

"You're going to be late Sakura-chan," Iruka smiled patiently at her, "room 302, third floor."

"Yes Sensei," Sakura smiled and quickly left, but only after Shikamaru and Shino gave her encouraging smiles and bobs of their heads. Sakura hurried down the hall, her hands clasped at her chest to keep the little blue bug Shino gave her close and safe. She took the nearest set of stairs and climbed to the top; she quickly searched the numbers over the doors and hurried over to the one labeled '302'. She paused just outside the door, adjusted the bug to sit on her shoulder instead of in her hands and carefully opened the door to her assigned class room.

"Hmm? Oh hello little one," Sakura blinked at the tall black haired man sitting behind the desk at the front of the room, his dark eyes were smiling at her. "You arrived just in time. Take a seat," he waved a hand out at the other students, curious Sakura looked in the indicated direction and observed the other students present.

"AH!" Sakura jerked at the startled shout, her eyes widening as she stared shocked at the girl. "What are you doing here Forehead?" Ami asked with a snarl, purple eyes flashing hatefully at Sakura

"Nanami-san be silent," the teacher barked, his dark eyes flashing instantly, "I will not have any student of mine speaking or doing any ill-will to another, Is that understood?" Ami jerked back at the hard tone of voice, her eyes widening a fraction of an inch, "Anyone who disobeys this rule will be banned from my classroom for all of eternity, is _that_ understood?"

"Y-yes sir," Several students stuttered out, their eyes wide

"Nanami-san?" the instructor called, dark eyes sharp on the small girl

"Y-Yes," Ami stuttered, "U-U-Under-r-stood s-sir"

"Good," he nodded courtly and turned kind eyes towards Sakura, "Haruno-san, please take a seat over there please."

"Y-Yes sir," Sakura stuttered and hurried towards the seat indicated. She quickly sat down close to the window, giving her a near perfect view of the entire class; well, it would've been a perfect view if she twisted in her seat and looked behind herself.

"Alright class my name is Asuma Sarutobi," the man said, rising to his feet and turning to write his name out on the black board behind him. "I will be your teacher, now we'll go over all the normal subjects pertaining to history, kind of can't avoid it. However, what we'll also go over is democracy, also known as politics which is also known as Negotiations. Now not all of you will pass this class, I doubt all of you will remain in this class at the end of the year." Asuma turned around and stared out at every student sitting around his room, watching him in a mixture of curiosity and boredom. "Now my responsibility is to lower your numbers for the final year of graduates," Asuma crossed his arms and leaned against the black board. "In other words I'm to make sure only the top three students remain for graduation. This will be done through a serious of advanced tests; each one will be more difficult than the last. The first five tests will be to determine how much you know and where my first lessons should begin, the later tests will be by far more challenging. If you are last place three times in a row, you'll be excused from this class room. In other words, fourth years, your numbers are going to be eliminated until there are three of you left. Your numbers will take the most damage with the shortest amount of time because you will be graduating soon, more will be expected from you."

"Yes sir," the elder children nodded courtly, understanding the demands

"Dose everyone understand?" Asuma asked, some of the children agreed and others didn't, Asuma sighed and somehow managed to resist the urge to grab a cigarette.

"From first to fourth year, your numbers will steadily decrease," Asuma sighed, "In other words, every semester you come back you'll be short one or two students. These 'missing' classmates are the ones who don't make the cut, in other words they've been sent back to the honors classes." Asuma paused, and took a deep breath before looking out over his various students, "Does that make sense?"

"Yes Sensei" the children agreed

"Good," Asuma walked around his desk, grabbed up a clip board and leaned against the front of his desk, "Stand up when I call your name."

"Yes sir!" Sakura glanced at the few louder boys nearby, wondering why they were so eager to please their new teacher.

"Yuri Aburame," a girl towards the front gracefully slipped onto her feet, folding her hands in front of herself and stared straight at the board. Asuma blinked lazily at her before nodding and moved on to the next name on his list. "Mai Inuzuka," The girl leaped to her feet with an existed shout, her pup partner barked cheerfully from the desk. "No dogs on the desk, in your lap or on the floor," Mai pouted and her pup whined but she picked up the little brown puppy and held it to her chest protectively. "Aya Niiyama," Asuma looked up at the class. In the far back a young girl with light brown hair dressed in a pink vest with a white-off the shoulder shirt that reached just past her waist and a black knee-length skirt slit up both thighs. "Kai Haruno," Sakura perked at the familiar name, instantly her eyes landed on a young copper haired teen standing in the middle of the room, his blue eyes staring in boredom at Asuma.

_I have a cousin?_ Sakura thought, staring wide eyed at the boy; she flinched back as the boy's blue eyes turned toward her. She gasped despite herself and Sakura quickly turned away, blushing brightly as she tried to hide from those startling pale blue eyes. Asuma continued to filter through the names and Sakura continued to stare at her feet, trying her best to ignore the feeling eyes on the back of her head.

"…uno… Haruno…" Sakura blinked looked up, wondering if someone else had the same last name as her, only her eyes landed on her new teacher. "Sakura Haruno-san please stand"

"Y-Yes sir," Sakura stuttered, blushing brightly as she jumped to her feet

"Ami Nanami," Sakura flinched as the sound of the purple haired girl's feet slammed down onto the tiled floor. Asuma looked around the classroom, memorizing each face to the names he spoke; after a moment he nodded his head courtly.

"From now on you're all classmates," Asuma said, staring pointedly at a few of the students, "It'll be best if you work together."

Ami snorted in dismissal

Sakura felt like hiding under her bed

…

* * *

…

Sakura sighed as she trudged through the Academy's halls until she reached the court yard for lunch, she imminently went to the darkest corner at the farthest end and huddled herself up into a ball. Her first hour was a nightmare, her second hour was a little better being her kunochi specialization class, Ino and Hinata both swarmed to her sides, and her third hour was another nightmare. She was starting to believe that fate hated her, all three of her first hour classes had Ami Nanami in them, and no Shikamaru or Shino.

"Sakura-san are you feeling alright?" Sakura blinked her eyes open and lifted her head up to stare at the four kids in front of her. Shikamaru was laying against the stone wall to her left looking half a sleep, Ino was crouching beside him looking worried, Shino was in front of her holding out a little orange butterfly and Hinata was standing between them looking like she wasn't sure what to do.

"I'll be fine," Sakura answered, leaning back against the wall, wondering when they all appeared around her, "How long have you been there?"

"We walked with you out of the academy," Ino huffed with a frown, "Is Ami bothering you again?"

"Kind of," Sakura admitted with a sigh and bitter smile, "She's in my first three classes."

"That's rough," Shikamaru sighed, "Anyone else with you in those classes?"

"I have her in second period," Ino smiled, "you should see the flower pot she made today, it was beautiful!"

"Third hour," Hinata agreed softly

"Hmmm, oh I found out I have an elder cousin in my first hour," Sakura said, turning towards her four friends with a smile, "His name is Kai Haruno."

"You sound kind of surprised about having a cousin," Shino said as he sat down on the ground to her right, holding out his hand and silently summoning the little blue bug from Sakura's shoulder to his open hand. "Don't you know your cousins Sakura-san?"

"No, not really," Sakura admitted, "My father is an only child and his entire family is full of carpenters and black smiths."

"What about your mom?" Ino asked, sitting on the ground as she pulled out her lunch, Hinata was quick to mimic her, "Surly she has a family."

"She dose but I don't know about it," Sakura replied, pulling her lunch out of her bag, "I don't even know her maiden name."

"So why don't you ask her about it?" Shikamaru asked as he accepted a sliced sandwich from Ino, "Ah Chōji! Over here!" the red haired boy perked at his name and quickly hurried over to them

"Shikamaru, Ino!" Chōji called, sliding to a stop beside them, "All our classes got rearranged, I haven't seen either one of you for a few days now."

"Yeah I know, it's been awhile," Shikamaru said sitting up and tapping the spot on the ground beside him, "Oh yeah," Shikamaru smiled at his best friend before waving a hand at his two new friends. "Chōji, this is Sakura Haruno and Shino Aburame."

"Hello," Chōji smiled shyly at the two kids indicated by his best friend, "I'm Chōji Akimichi."

"He-hello," Sakura stuttered with a soft smile

"Good evening," Shino greeted as he took a bit of his own lunch, "Sakura-san would you like to make a trade?"

"Huh?" Sakura blinked at Shino, lowering her chopsticks to address the glasses wearing boy, "What do you want?"

"…What is that?" Shino asked, using his chopsticks to point at something in Sakura's lunch box

"Shino that's rude!" Ino huffed as she passed a boxed lunch towards Chōji, "Don't use your chopsticks to point at food! Your saliva might drip off into her lunch box!" meanwhile, Sakura scooted closer to Shino so he could get a better look at her boxed lunch, "Sakura-chan! Don't encourage him!" Ino whined loudly, making Sakura blinked up at her in startled bewilderment

"Um… sorry?" Sakura tried, tilting her head to the side to indicate her confusion at Ino's raised voice

"Why don't we all trade one thing in our lunches with someone else?" Shikamaru asked, sitting up straight to take a drink from his water battle.

"Okay," Sakura smiled in agreement, Shino nodded as well and presented Sakura with his own lunch box. "What is that?" Sakura asked pointing at something that looked like a fried cricket

"A fried cricket," Shino answered blandly, "this is rice with warm—"

"You'd have better just said 'warm' and not '_worm_'," Ino said with narrowed eyes, her chopsticks pointed at Shino threateningly, "One more bug entrée and I'm throwing these at you." Shino nodded mutely and carefully pulled his lunch box back towards himself, huddling it protectively to his other side. Sakura chuckled and nudged Shino carefully with her elbow, when she had his attention she showed him her lunch box.

"So what classes do you have Sakura-san?" Hinata asked as she passed Ino some of her lunch

"It's basically the same but my first and last classes were changed," Sakura answered, "My first hour was changed from Iruka-sensei to Asuma-sensei and my last hour was changed from Mizuki-sensei too…" Sakura paused as she set her lunch down and pulled out her new class schedule. "Um, oh! It's Hikaru Kazehitoha… I wonder what he's going to teach me…"

"Hmm? You have him too?" Hinata questioned, perking at the information

"You too?" Sakura asked

"I think a lot of people in the advanced class got into his class," Shikamaru said thoughtfully, "I'm in it too."

"I as well," Shino agreed, pointing to what he thought was a strange looking flower in Sakura's box

"It's star fruit," Sakura answered his silent question, picking up a piece of the yellow fruit and passing it towards him, "It's kind of like green grapes in that it's bitter when 'green' but really sweet when ripe and it's really hard to tell the difference."

"I see," Shino whispered, taking the small piece of star fruit and placing one of the corner pieces in his mouth

"So did you notice anyone else from our year in the advanced class?" Ino asked curiously

"I noticed Uzumaki-san, he got last place" Sakura said grabbing her water battle

"I saw that too," Hinata blushed

"This is very good," Shino said absentmindedly, turning to face a smiling Sakura, "Where do you get it?"

"I'll ask Dad where he gets it," Sakura replied with a chuckle, "he'll be thrilled that there's someone else who likes the fruit."

"Not everyone likes it?" Shino asked in surprise

"My mom hates it" Sakura answered

"Okay so let's get this straight," Shikamaru straightened and grabbed a note pad and ben from his bag. "I was first, Shino was second and Sakura was third…" Shikamaru counted down to nine before writing down Naruto's name.

"Sakura-san can I try a piece?" Hinata asked, staring at the little piece of 'star fruit'

"Sure," Sakura smiled and passed the girl a smaller portion of the fruit, "Careful of the skin it's bitter, so I wouldn't suggest eating it like Shino did."

"It was very good," Shino replied calmly, nibbling on another end of the star fruit

"Hinata got fifth place," Ino said helpfully, "And Ami got eighth." Shikamaru stiffened but nodded, quickly writing down the names in their respected places

"This is delicious," Hinata gasped, blushing brightly as she pressed a hand to her cheek in surprise

"I know," Sakura smiled

"Alright, that's six people we know in the advanced class," Shikamaru said, drawing attention to himself, "that means the fourth, sixth and seventh places are filled by people we don't know."

"Umeko Yamanaka, Riko Yamauchi and Chika Yamada," Sakura spoke up, smiling shyly as she took another sip from her bottle.

"You memorized the list?" Shikamaru asked, head jerking up to look at the pinkette

"I already knew everyone else on the list," Sakura answered, "Memorizing their placements wasn't hard. It was only three names that I didn't know and placing them with the numbers wasn't hard either."

"Did you recognize any names from the previous years?" Ino asked curiously, passing Sakura a sliced sandwich

"I recognized a few names," Sakura said thoughtfully, smiling in thanks for the packed sandwich. "Two Yamanaka's, second and third years. Two Aburame's, Second and fourth years. There was a Hyūga from second year, he got second place. Two Nohara's both in third year. Oh yeah, I have an elder cousin from the third year, his name is Kai. He's the one I was telling you guys about."

"That's all you recall?" Shikamaru asked

"There were a lot from second year who don't have last names," Sakura said with a frown, "that's a little strange isn't?"

"They're most likely orphans," Ino sighed, "as far as I know, only orphans have first names."

"That's kind of sad," Sakura said softly, "not knowing your last name…"

"Not knowing your history would suck," Ino agreed, "I would get so lost and depressed."

"I'm fairly sure you'd be the first to find out who your parents were," Shikamaru drawled, "You're too stubborn not to find out who they were." Ino stared at Shikamaru for a moment, her blue eyes narrowed in annoyance and calculations

"I'll take that as a complement," Ino said with a bright smile, Sakura giggled at the look Shikamaru gave the sky, as if it was some deity who just saved his life.

…

* * *

…

Kakuzu ignored muffled rambling, choosing instead to read a book about symbolism cleverly disguised as a book on sowing. He may not know a lot about Hidan's faith or 'god', but he did know that whatever it was keeping the idiot alive could communicate to the idiot under certain conditions. That said, he was the only one in the team, in the entire organization, that had even half of a hope to decipher anything that the 'god' told Hidan. The idiot himself said that the clue had to be somewhere in the forest of spring but nothing stood out to the idiot in the tiny, and only, village of the 'eternal' spring forest. However, the culture there just might've been enough of a clue and if not the people, the clue could be the location of the girl. However, none of the children there were born six to seven years ago, they're youngest was eight and no one had been born since.

"Spring forest huh," Kakuzu whispered to himself as he flipped a page, stilling as a giant pink tree stood out on the page of his book. His eyes narrowed slightly, an idea coming to him slowly. The 'eternal' spring forest of fire country had been around for nearly a millennia, many of the people there had a name related to the season. It could be that the 'eternal spring forest' was a clue to the girl's name, not her location. If that was the case, they would have to search out anyone in the fire nation with a name that was related to spring, however there were over three dozen names related to spring and there were a hundred times as many people with the same first name. So how were they going to search for her? The key couldn't just be a first name, they'd never find her, the key had to be a hint at her last name as well. If it was a hint of her name at all, for all Kakuzu knew it could be a hint of the girl's personality, her surroundings, or even her appearance; it could be all of it or none of it. It could even be a clue of what not to look for.

_My head hurts_, Kakuzu sighed and rubbed at his temple tiredly

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	9. Chapter 9

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 9: Friends

Koomahana

**So, I noticed some minor spelling mistakes (mostly Hiden, Sharingan, Byakugan) and a little bit of confusion regarding Sakura's age-that has all been fixed**

**last week we had a power outage so I wasn't able to update, sorry, this was the soonest I could do :)**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Before the second exam for the second quarter it was announced to the school that instead of just nine passing students it was easier and simpler for the instructors if there were ten slots in the advanced class instead of just nine. The second exam revealed Shikamaru, Shino and Sakura still remained as the top three students. Hinata scored fourth place, Ami earned sixth and (as she promised) Ino managed to score the seventh placement. Naruto scored last and surprisingly enough, Sasuke earned eighth place. After the second exam for the advanced class, the final touches of the advanced student's re-schedule was announced, it was decided that those who remained in the advanced class wouldn't get a complete re-schedule but would get a new class. Right now, Sakura and her friends were all walking to their newest class, chakra control with the Kazehitoha brothers. Before it was just Hikaru-sensei going over the basics but now it was an official class with a real teacher with real plans to teach them. Sakura giggled as she walked with her friends, unaware of just how close their group had become over the past weeks. Shikamaru and Shino walked behind Ino, Sakura and Hinata, as if watching their backs despite the safety of the academy. Together they entered the room reading '304 A' and took seats towards the back, the five of them sitting together in the two farthest rows. Shikamaru and Shino sat together in the very back with the girls directly in front of them. They didn't have to wait long before other students calmly filtered through the doors and took their own seats and not long after the last student entered, their new instructor walked in through the door.

"Welcome students," the tall blonde called out in boredom, "to your worst nightmare." Instantly the classroom fell silent, everyone's attention was riveted onto the tall blonde standing at the head of the class, back against the black board. "My name is Hotaru Kazehitoha and my job is to get as many of you as I can, _out_ of this classroom. I'm ex-Anbu so that shouldn't be too hard."

"So wait, you're not going to hold back like the other teachers?" a girl asked, rising to her feet, "you're just going to eliminate anyone you deem unfit for you class?"

"Yes I am," Hotaru smirked at her, "mostly because the advanced class has a total of eighty participants, ten students per year. The majority of the five through eight years have a special bloodline of some sort so they need finer tuning then you, therefore the teacher will have to be either stricter or slightly easier depending on the bloodline. I'm in charge of years one through four which means I have a total of forty students that I have decrease to around four or so students, one for every year."

"That's ridiculous!" one of the boys pipped up, jumping to his feet and pointing accusatory at Hotaru. "The fourth and third years are the ones who'll get the worst scrutiny!" clearly he was one of them and he didn't like his odds

"This class is a specialization class," Hotaru drawled lazily, slouching in his place. "More specifically, it specializes in chakra control. If you can't cut the quarter tests you're out, no questions asked, no protesting, no nothing. You're done, you're out; back to your normal classes."

"That's insane," someone else spoke up, "How do you expect any of us to stay if you're going to be like that?!"

"Listen brat I didn't ask for this job," Hotaru growled, "I was _assigned_ this-this… _responsibility,_" he said the word like it was painful. "In the world of Anbu, only the strong survive. In hell that's war, the smart make it back and only teamwork prevails."

"But we're not at war," another girl spoke up, "We're at peaceful times!"

Hotaru snorted in dismissal

"There was a ten year 'peace' interval between the waring clan's era and the foundation of our village," Hotaru replied calmly. "Approximately seven years after the founders fought and the valley of the end was created, the first Great Shinobi War erupted. That war lasted roughly a decade and a half, when that ended the peace lasted barely three years before the Second Great Shinobi War began. When _that_ war ended twenty years later, the peace lasted for about… hmm about ten years at most. Then the Third Shinobi war started up, that lasted… uh… approximately… fifteen years I belief." Hotaru blinked as he saw a tiny white hand raised high into the air, "…you in the back, what is it?"

"When did that war end?" Sakura asked lowering her hand

"The Third Great Shinobi War ended five years ago, when all of you first years were roughly three years old" Hotaru answered calmly. "The day of treaty signing also happened to be the near beginning of another Great War. It was only thanks to the Hyūga clan's sacrifice that we were able to remain out of another war that would've sent all of you to the battle lines already."

"I don't understand Sensei," one of the boys towards the front said, raising his hand half-heartedly, "I wasn't accepted into the Shinobi academy until I was eight, why would've I already been on the front lines if it was War times?"

"The Shinobi Academy accepts people differently in war times as it does in peace time," Hotaru replied. "In peace time the accepted age is six years old, eight if they came from a civilian back ground. During war time the accepted age is as young as four, depending on their intelligence, clan and skill level." He conveniently forgot to mention that such exceptions also applied to some civilian children, their need for higher intelligence was required for an earlier enrolment during war time or peace time. Case in point: Sakura Haruno and Ami Nanami, both have higher test scores then other's their ages.

Hinata raised her hand next

"Yes?" Hotaru asked, "Hyūga-san?"

"Uh-um… c-can we ha-have a-an example?" Hinata asked curiously, resisting the urge to tap her fingers together

"…alright," Hotaru nodded his head in acceptance and crossed his arms, thinking of a good example for the children. "Alright, one of the most famous Shinobi in the village is a man who entered the academy during war time, he was four years old and graduated the academy when he was five. He made Chunin when he was six and Jonin when he was ten, he was also accepted into the Anbu ranks in his mid-teens." Hotaru watched as awe filled his students, their eyes were shining brightly, their faces glowing with wonder.

_I really should tell them the price of those ranks_, Hotaru thought as he watched the class begin to whisper in excitement, _but they're still kids…I should let that lesson belong to Sempai. It's his story after all, I shouldn't have used him anyways…_

"Ne~ Kazehitoha-sensei!" Hotaru perked at the giggly voice, his teal eyes snapping on a bubbly little brunet with crimson triangles on her face, "When did you enter Anbu?!" her pet puppy barked happily in agreement, the rest of the class fell silent in curiosity, wondering the same as the little Inuzuka girl.

"…that is none of your concern," Hotaru answered blandly, beginning to feel the tiniest flickers of worry begin to form as sweat on the back of his neck

"How old were you when you entered the academy?!" the girl asked, eyes widening as she straightened in her seat

"Hmm I think…" Hotaru started, watching the children sit on the edges of their seats, eager to learn something about their new sensei, "It's time for our first lesson."

"Aww~!"

"Come on se~nsei~!"

"Just a few more questions!"

"Plea~se~?"

"No," Hotaru sighed, lifting of the black board and grabbing his note book on chakra control, "now shut up and grab your books. They should be in the cubbies beneath your desks." Sullenly the children each rummaged around their desk, pulling out their required books and flopping them down on the desk loudly just to show just how disappointed they were.

Honestly he didn't care, just so long as they did what they were told in the end

"Alright, you all have to thank Lady Tsunade Senju when—_if_—you ever see her," Hotaru said as he began writing the first lesson out on the board, "this book was written by her."

"'Chakra control for dummies'," Shikamaru read aloud, one eye brow raised high on his forehead, "this should be fun."

"Oh~ wo~w" Sakura whispered to herself, not realizing that she drew her friends attention to herself, "I didn't know you could do that with chakra." Shikamaru snorted and slapped a hand to his mouth so he wouldn't bust up laughing, Shino himself just shook his head and Hinata was blinking dumbly at her.

…

* * *

…

Hiruzen sat silently behind his desk, observing his village bathed in sunlight. He had just gotten out of another meeting with his village elders, they were arguing again about his decision with the advanced class. Homura saw it as a pointless exercise, Kohaku thought they were moving too fast with the advanced class and Danzo thought they should've done it decades ago; except he wanted the advanced students to be trained like his Anbu Agents. He believed that they were wasting their time in the academy and should be training with him or some of his better Agents. However, Hiruzen didn't want unbeatable Anbu, he wanted the next generation prepared for the war that was coming. If the next generation was killed, how could he possibly hope for a generation after them? More importantly, how could he face their parents when they ask him why he didn't prepare their children for war when he knew one was coming?

The advanced class existed to give their children a fighting chance at surviving, not all of the children in the academy would remain in the final year. They could get two hundred percipients in the first year and by the time that year reached their final year, there would be an average number of sixty remaining participants. Of those remaining sixty participants, only nine would pass the final exam and become Genin. The others would either quite or return to the academy. He needed his children to _survive_, more than just the ones related to him by blood. To Hiruzen, everyone in the village is more than just his people to protect, they were more than just subjects, civilians, or villagers. To Hiruzen everyone within the walls of the village, were his children. He wasn't just the Hokage looking out for his people, he was the father protecting his children. It was one of the few things Danzo never understood about being Hokage, there were no favorites and there were no soldiers. There were only children skilled in various forms of fighting. Be it in intelligence, physical powers or both; they were all protected and guided by the Hokage.

_If I don't get Kumo to agree to the alliance, we may never win the impending war,_ Hiruzen thought with heavy sigh. He had been able to get an alliance with the hidden sand and the hidden cloud villages, but Mizu and Iwa were still being stingy about alliances. They didn't want to join forces for the sake of a war, as usual, they wanted to win the war with as little outside help as possible. He tried contacting their Daimyo's but they were just as stingy and bull-headed as his own village councilors who were starting to nit-pick at every step he took. So far the only thing that made him smile anymore were the advanced class participants antics and, of course, Naruto's visits. So far, the children in the advanced classes were working together to remain in the advanced class, forcing him to allow ten students from each year in the special class instead of just nine. He knew it messed with his original plan of teams of three genin to a jonin but at least those just scraping by could get in. Heck, some of the other teachers are getting a little tougher in their own classes, trying subconsciously to catch up with the advanced class. He was almost tempted to make the advanced participants separate into a different shinobi academy, one run by Jonin instead of Chunin.

Hiruzen sighed and turned in his chair, facing his cluttered desk with a look of disappointment and annoyance. He loved his village, but the absurd amount of paper work often made him wonder why he ever wanted the title of Hokage. Currently the desk was covered in paper work from the academy, mostly the test scores of the students in the advanced class. He was trying to make it so that in the final year of the academy, there was one final graduate in each subject in the ten classes of the Advanced Classes. However, he was beginning to think that it wasn't worth the trouble to keep the advanced class. The only reason he hadn't disbanded it was because Naruto was still in it and according to his other instructors, he's excelling well in his other subjects and Jiraiya says he's performing remarkably well in his chosen subject of sealing. Guess there was no denying who his mother was, the Uzumaki legacy is remaining strong with the little mischievous blonde.

"Lord Hokage we've got a problem!" a chunin shouted as he barged into Hiruzen's office, "That Naruto-brat did it again!"

_One day my patience will wear thin,_ Hiruzen thought with a heavy sigh, slumping low in his seat, _maybe then I'll get vengeance on the little brat then…_

…

* * *

…

Two days later

…

* * *

…

"Ne~ Sensei how are we supposed to fine tune our chakra control?" Mai Inuzuka asked loudly, one hand thrust high into the air. Hotaru sighed and turned back around, staring dully at the young girl for a moment before he looked back over the entire class.

"Mai Inuzuka was it?" Hotaru asked, the girl nodded, "Well Mai-san, because of everyone's different skill rates and learning speed differences, I'm going to have to start on the extremely simple stuff. Don't forget that there are first years in this class as well, they won't learn as fast as you." Shikamaru and Hinata glanced at Sakura, who remained reading the chakra control book without caring about what anyone else said around her. Ino had been asked to participate in the other class dedicated to chakra control, that teacher was more used to teaching chakra control to people with special bloodlines like hers. It had been two days since their class reschedules and so far the four of them were pretty good about keeping up with their new schedules and their new expectations; Ino reported nothing different in her specialized class.

"Yes sir," Mai huffed, placing her face in her hand to show her complete and utter boredom with the subject

"Alright then, third and fourth years, you've already accomplished simple tasks of chakra control your previous instructors set out for you," Hotaru said looking out over the entire class, "So you should know what I'm going to have everyone do. Make sure to grab all of your things before you line up, now then… Fourth years get up here!" Sakura pouted to herself, hiding behind her book as she continued to read through its contents, absorbing its material like a sponge. Several girls rose to their feet and walked towards the front of the room, easily taking their places at the back door. "Third years get up here!" several boys groaned and got to their feet, making their way to take their places beside the fourth years.

_Eighteen in total_, Hotaru thought, staring at the group with slightly narrowed eyes, hoping his plan would work. "Alright you eighteen follow Nii-san to your placements outside," Hotaru ordered as he opened the door and showed his one eyed elder brother, "Don't forget to do as you're told."

"Yes sensei," the children drawled, clearly unimpressed with the elder brother

"Alright then," Hikaru sighed and turned away, "follow me." The children rolled their eyes and followed him out the door, leaving Hotaru behind to deal with the first and second years.

"Alright, come up here second years," Hotaru instructed

"Yes sensei," the children chimed together, four girls and two boys stood up and hurried to the front, Hotaru nodded at them and ordered them to wait outside. "First years, come on up," Hotaru watched as the last of the children in his class started to move forward, only realize that they were one short. Hinata quickly turned on her heal and hurried back to Sakura, Shikamaru and Shino paused half way down the ale to wait for them.

"Sakura-san," Hinata whispered, her voice hitched in panic. Sakura blinked and looked up at Hinata with wide eyes, gasping she scrambled to her feet and quickly hurried after Hinata, taking her chakra control book with her.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered as she hurried towards friends

"Just focus when the teacher talks," Shikamaru drawled, Sakura giggled at the irony

"Alright class, listen up," Hotaru called, drawing everyone's attention to him. Hotaru carefully plucked several leafs from a nearby bush and held one up for the eight children to see. "The first test you've already passed, the ability to use chakra. This task is to concentrate on using your chakra." Hotaru passed the older kids their leaves before moving on to the little ones and carefully passed the leaves onto each six year old. "Place the leaf on your pointer finger and concentrate on using your chakra to keep the leaf in place, the better your chakra control the longer you can hold the leaf in place." Hotaru fixed a few fingers and leaves before he sat back and watched each of the children concentrate on their leaves.

"What's the record for holding the leaf on their finger?" Shikamaru asked curiously, stared dully down at the leaf held between his thumb and pointer finger

"Oh uh…" Hotaru blinked dully, "I think Itachi Uchiha's record was an hour and five minutes."

"How many leaves did he hold?" Sakura asked curiously, for once not raising her hand

"One… I think" Hotaru answered, not sure if he was accurate or not. Sakura smiled brightly and picked up another leaf, placing it beside her original leaf. "…very good Haruno-san," Hotaru smiled, "count to five and add another leaf."

"Yes sir," Sakura smiled

…

* * *

…

Iruka rubbed bridge of his nose with one hand, his eyes closed as he listened to the loud laughter of his most rambunctious student. Again, Naruto was skipping out on his class, only he skipped out on his final class and was currently telling him about the 'amazing' prank he left in wait for the class. Iruka just prayed that the teacher in question wouldn't come looking for Naruto to beat him into next week.

"Naruto," Iruka sighed, resting his arm against the desk he sat at, "just who is your sixth period teacher?"

"Uh…" Naruto scrunched up his face in thought, "something like Kazenito or was it Kazehiwa? Kazehinkwa?"

"Kazehitoha?" Iruka asked in horror

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah that's it!" Naruto smiled up at him, "He's going to look great in orange!" Naruto laughed, wrapping his arms around his belly as he thought about his prank, "So will the rest of the class!"

"Naruto you idiot!" Iruka barked, jumping to his feet, "Kazehitoha-san used to be one of lord Hokage's personal guards!"

"So?" Naruto asked, blinking dumbly up at his favorite teacher, "you're point?"

"We need to disable that trap right now!" Iruka barked, grabbing Naruto up by his waist and running out of his class room, "You're helping!"

"I don't wanna!" Naruto whined, as Iruka ran full tilt down the hall

"I don't care about what you want!" Iruka snapped as he skidded to half-stop and took off down another hall, "I care about you surviving that man's vengeance!"

"Oh come on Iruka-sensei!" Naruto struggled in the man's hold, "no Jonin has caught me!"

"No Jonin with enough free time has bothered catching you!" Iruka replied tartly, "All your pranks miraculously hit all of us Chunin! And Kazehitoha isn't a Jonin! He's Anbu!"

"Eh? Really?" Naruto questioned in surprise, "I didn't know I hit only Chunin… maybe I should target a few Jonin next time."

"Not if you value your life!" Iruka growled, sliding to as stop in front of a door that read '304 A'. "Alright you little brat, where did you put the trap?" Naruto huffed as he was set on the ground, he looked around the hall for a moment before studying the door carefully.

"I..." Naruto turned away from Iruka with his arms crossed stubbornly, "don't know!"

"Naruto!" Iruka said lowly, voice full of warning. Naruto gave him a board look, Iruka sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again, "alright fine. I'll go in and see what I can't find myself."

_Heh, like I could forget my master piece,_ Naruto thought with a victorious smirk, glancing over his shoulder at Iruka. His brilliant prank was to be triggered when the door was opened, it would set off the chain reaction of locks and wires he set up just after everyone entered the class room. The first person to step through the door way would end up stepping on a seal he created, which would then release the orange paint gas from all over the room, coating everyone inside.

"In you go," Iruka said, grabbing Naruto by the scruff of his shirt and throwing him into the room

"Huh? No!" Naruto screamed shrilly as he stumbled into the room, activating the seal he put in place, "Oh no!"

_Idiot_, Iruka thought as he quickly slammed the door closed, preventing the orange gas from escaping the room. He heard the sound of hissing, Naruto staggering, something that sounded like pots and pans falling from somewhere making Naruto yelp as they slammed into him, and the sound of Naruto coughing and gagging. Iruka counted to fifteen before he bothered to open the class room door, knee high orange smoke filtered out of the room, slowly revealing a gagging orange blob. Iruka sighed and stepped further into the room, careful to watch where he stepped in case there were further traps he didn't know about. Everything in the room was a hideous and blinding shade of orange, an even coating of it covered everything in the room. The first thing he noticed was the side door leading outside was open, as were all seven extra-large windows, preventing the orange mist from staining anything more than waist high. Which was most of the class room; just not the majority of the desks, saving the assignments inside of said desks.

"Hello? Ah, Uzumaki-san, so glad you could make it." Iruka looked over at the open door and saw one completely relaxed Jonin leaning against the door way lazily. "So sorry about your little prank, I'm afraid Orange wouldn't look that great on me." The man smiled at the orange boy as he scrambled to his feet and scowled up at him, teary-blue eyes red-rimmed and glowing in anger.

"Who are you?!" Naruto bellowed out loudly, as if he was insulted that the man thought so little of his trap.

Iruka groaned and slapped a hand to his face, _why did I think he actually went to class these last two days?_

"My name is Hotaru Kazehitoha and I've learned to avoid your little tricks," the man smiled patiently at him, "now then, are you ready to join the rest of your classmates outside?"

"NO!" Naruto bellowed out furiously, "I'll never attend your class!"

"Naruto," Iruka sighed, "do you want to be Hokage?"

"Dose the word 'duh' mean anything to you?" Naruto asked back, only to yelp as Iruka slammed a fist into his head

"Listen Naruto, no Hokage in our history has ever been named Hokage without the ability to control their chakra," Iruka informed the paint-stained boy as he retracted his now orange fist. "In other words, if you want to be Hokage, you have to take Kazehitoha-sensei's class. He specializes in chakra control, which'll be of great help to you as you grow up and get stronger. The better your chakra control, the less you'll be in need of for your jutsu and techniques, which mean the longer you can be in your fights."

_Not that he'll ever be in need of fine chakra control,_ Hotaru thought as he watched Naruto all but worship Iruka's words, treating them like they were pure gold bracelets given to him by some Kami. _His stamina alone will win most of his fights._

"Alright then!" Naruto spun on his heel and point up at Hotaru, a smirk on his face, "I'll let you teach me you creepy-bug-eyed-weirdo! I'm gonna be Hokage someday! Believe it!"

Hotaru stared blankly down at orange boy, his right brow twitched faintly on his pale skin

"Naruto," Iruka called with a heavy sigh

"Huh?" Naruto turned to look up at the man, tilting his head to the side curiously

"I'm not stopping Kazehitoha-sensei if he decides to you hit you,"

"Guh!" Naruto turned wiry eyes onto a suddenly not so friendly looking Hotaru

"Shall we begin the torture?" Hotaru asked with a creepy smile

_I'm doomed!_ Naruto thought fearfully

…

* * *

…

Sakura smiled as she moved down the hall with Hinata, Shikamaru and Shino towards the academy doors. Out of everyone in their class she had gotten the exercise the quickest and mastered it nearly as fast. It had gotten to the point that Shikamaru was doing the counting, Shino was gathering leaves and Hinata was carefully stacking them one on top of another on Sakura's finger. Eventually, Hinata hit a dead end when she could no longer reach the top of the leafs, then she got the bright idea to put two leaves sideways between each leaf that was stacked right on top of the other. After five minutes of watching the four of them 'play' with the leaves, Hotaru had walked over to get them focused again. Except he ended up shutting his mouth, ran back into the classroom, came running back and snapped a picture of what Sakura was doing.

"That class was actually fun," Shikamaru said at last, a smirk on his face

"Can we do it again?" Hinata asked softly, turning to look at Sakura expectantly, "it was amazing to build a tree with leaves." She lifted her camera, showing her friends that she took several pictures during class

"Uh-huh," Sakura nodded in agreement, her eyes dancing, "I can't wait to do that again."

"Perhaps you should wait to recover first," Shino replied calmly, quietly pointing out the fact that Sakura was currently being held up by Shino as they walked down the hall. Sakura's reserves hadn't taken much of a dent but Sakura's control did start to waver after ten minutes of the constant leaf stacking. When Ami ran past to catch her leaf, she bumped into Sakura, sending the pinket teetering to the ground and her own leaves flying into the wind. After that, Sakura couldn't stay concentrated enough to keep up more than ten leaves on her finger. When sweat started to gather on her forehead, making her hair slick and sticky, Hotaru told her to take a break and rest up.

"I should be better tomorrow," Sakura agreed with a light chuckle as they passed through the Academy doors to reach outside. The first person to see them happened to be Ino and her father, the blonde imminently went running over with a startled shout sending attention to the group quickly.

"I'm fine Ino-san," Sakura sighed as stopped with Shino just off to the side of the Academy Doors, "Just a little tiered from class, that's all."

"Bull!" Ino harped, sliding forward and placing a hand on Sakura's forehead, going so far as to lift the pinket's slick hair out of the way. "You have a fever! You're out of breath, your face is red, and your hair is wet!" the last one sounded like Ino was both disgusted and horrified about, "Just what kind of Cretan is your teacher?!"

"That would be me," Ino flinched at the hard voice and the book thumping her in the head, "Do try to keep your manners up little one." Ino sniffed and rubbed at her aching head with a pout, glaring pitifully up at the tall blonde standing beside her father, a book held in one hand that now rested comfortably on his shoulder. "and for your information, Haruno-san has had about thirty minutes of rest since I told her to take a break _during_ class," Hotaru informed the young blonde, "Don't blame me for your friend's ridiculous amount of determination."

"De-determination?" Ino questioned dumbly, "What were you determined about?" She asked, turning to look at Sakura curiously

"We had a fun exercise in class today," Sakura smiled at her, calmly slipping her arm from Shino's shoulders and thanking him softly for his help.

"How can class be fun?" Ino asked with a raised eyebrow, "aren't they normally boring?" Inoichi smacked a hand to his face, Hotaru tried and failed to hide his amusement and Shikamaru let out a stifled chuckle.

"Not this time," Sakura smiled

"We all had fun seeing how many leafs Sakura-san could hold up on her finger," Hinata elaborated before catching sight of her guardian and little sister. "I-I have to go," Hinata stuttered, starting to take a few steps forward, "C-Can I s-see you all t-tomorrow?"

"Of course, duh," Ino smirked and rolled her eyes, "What's the point of being friends if we don't get to hang out together?" Hinata blushed brightly before she turned and ran straight into her father, a smile on her face

"F-Friends?" Sakura stuttered herself, drawing attention to herself. Ino stared dully at Sakura for a moment before realization hit her, her eyes widened and a smile split her face.

"Of course!" Ino giggled, tackling Sakura, "We're all friends here!"

…

* * *

…

**This is the classes that I had in mind **

**First year Advanced Class Participants, listed by highest grade average by school quarters (we're currently in the beginning of second quarter)**

**First Year, First quarter**

**Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Umeko Yamanaka—Hinata—Riko Yamauchi—Chika Yamada—Ami—Naruto**

**First Year, Second quarter:**

**Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Umeko—Ami—Ino—Sasuke—Naruto—Riko**

**First Year, Third quarter:**

**Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ino—Ami—Sasuke—Naruto—Riko—Umeko**

**First Year, Fourth quarter:**

**Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ami—Ino—Sasuke—Naruto—Riko —Umeko**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	10. Chapter 10

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 10: Yin and Yang

Koomahana

**Brunet—brown hair**

**Blonde—yellow hair**

**Scarlet—red head**

**Pinket—pink hair**

**Violette—purple hair**

**Oranget—orange hair**

**Bluet—blue hair**

**Here's this week's chapter! last chapter was for last week**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

It was her second year at the Shinobi Academy and her second year in the advanced class. Ami's score hadn't increased much since last Year's final quarter test, she was still fifth place and had gotten a nice little 'visit' from one little Hyūga heir. Hinata had flat out told her that she wouldn't let her pass fifth place because there was no way she was going to get close to Sakura—in or out of their school. Ami marched through the street in annoyance; she glared at her feet and made no effort to hide her anger; no one dared to get in her way. She marched through the market, barely glancing at the stalls lining the streets; she barged past groups, not pausing to apologize. She made no attempt at respect to her elders, she made no attempt to smile for a younger child and she made no attempt to contact her friends. Ami marched through the streets and went straight to that broken down old brick building with holes in its roof and rats in its walls. She climbed the stairs as fast as possible, eventually she found herself running as fast as she could, she was quickly becoming a blur in the darkness of her home. She finally hit her floor and she took off down the hall, ignoring the startled shouts of several of her neighbors when she ran past. Ami quickly found her apartment door, slammed it open and ran straight through without bothering to close the door after herself. She ran to her room, slammed the door open and closed, and imminently flopped onto her bed, where she proceeded to scream into her pillow.

"Ami-chan?" her Aunt called softly, the soft bewildered tone told Ami that someone was visiting them again. Over the past month since her father's death, a single man who appeared to have been her father's once 'teammate' consistently visited them. Considering he was still a shinobi and still had missions to up hold, he didn't get to visit a lot but he did visit more often than he properly should.

"Ami-chan," her aunt said softly, stepping into the room and sitting gently against the edge of her bed, "Did something happen at school?" Ami could hear the stranger approach slowly, as if he was unsure if he should, "Ami-chan?" Ami sighed into her pillow and pulled out a sheet of paper from her pocket, she handed it to her 'aunt' without looking. She could hear the woman take the paper and unfold it, Ami could nearly feel the woman's confusion at the list of names and subjects.

"They're my new classes, for this year" Ami groaned into her pillow, "and that-that… _girl_ is in almost all of them."

"The girl you've been having trouble with?" her aunt questioned curiously

"Yeah," Ami agreed, pushing herself onto her elbows and looking back at her aunt, "She's stuck up and annoying and I think she's getting worse." The white-eyed freak was certainly getting brazen lately, she didn't stutter near as much as she used to and Ami swore she could see that girl nearly skipping as she walked.

"What makes you say that?" her aunt asked, tilting her head to the side, as if she were a normal civilian woman who didn't kill a dozen people in the few hours of her escape from T&amp;I the previous year. Ami took a deep breath, ready to go into a rant about her biggest annoyance and remembered that someone else was with them, she had a role to play and if she didn't play it right her 'aunt' was going to be taken away.

"She's a bossy know it all," Ami sighed, flopping back against her bed, stuffing her face into her pillow, "the funny thing is she's not that smart." She heard her aunt chuckle in amusement, she could feel the woman's short nails gently comb through her slightly longer purple hair and over her stiff shoulders.

"Hmm, it sounds like you're in need of some tea," her aunt said, Ami could hear the amusement in the woman's voice

"We don't have any," Ami replied, feeling the older woman lift herself from her bed, "did you forget what dad did when he found that one box?"

"…No," there was remorse, regret, and misery tinting her aunt's voice, "no… I didn't forget." Ami officially felt like crap, who knew the woman was that good of an actor? Seriously, she was laying the guilt on a little thick. "However, Kameyama-san took time out of his busy schedule to pick us up some."

"It's no problem," said man commented softly, Ami gasped and sat up straight in her bed, going so far as to flip over to look at the man standing in the door way to her room. "Easy there tiger, you're going to hurt yourself," Kameyama said with an easy smile, Ami tried to smile back but she doubted it looked as natural as she hoped it did. Kameyama was a calm shinobi, with deep maroon-red hair and warm brown eyes, nicely tanned skin and a rather startling scar stretching over his left jaw. Her 'Aunt Ren' happened to have deep Navy hair as curly as a river and as soft as silk, her pale skin almost appeared to have been kissed by the moon, and her eyes were the prettiest onyx Ami had ever seen.

"Ren-san is there anything I can help you with?" Kameyama asked, turning to her navy haired Aunt

"I'm fairly sure I can heat water and put a few paper packets into a cup," Ren replied with a chuckle and a smile. Ami stared at the two as they met in her door way, Kameyama looking like a mischievous devil and Ren looking like a charmed angle. They made the perfect pair, except Ami couldn't tell if Ren knew the man before she showed up in her life or if the woman was purposefully charming the man to keep a 'stable' appearance for the public. The best part about Ren targeting Kameyama? With her navy-blue hair and his Maroon-red locks, it would explain her purple hair and all Ami would have to say as that they're her parents and she has her dad's eyes. That's it, they could be a real family and no one would question it; that was the beauty of Ren's and Kameyama's other worldly appearances. It didn't make Ami appear to be from another world, she was rather plain looking when compared to them, but for a moment she could pretend that when she grew up, she'd be as beautiful as Ren or as mysterious as Kameyama.

"Kameyama-san was there something important you needed to speak to Aunty about?" Ami asked, noticing that neither one of them had moved on from her door way. Immanently they both jumped, blushed brightly, stammered over their words like a couple of nervous kids and stumbled their way out of her doorway and down the hall. Ami rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh; she jumped off her bed and followed them into the small kitchen slash dining room. It would take Ami staring dully at Kameyama for five minutes before he'd take the hint and leave, Ren gave Ami a disapproving look before walking the man to the door and speaking with him again for another five minutes before remembering she has the stove on. Ami didn't say anything as her Aunt fussed over the tea-pot and cups, trying to pour it just right without spilling a drop, something she still failed miserably at. Being fresh off the stove, Ami knew the cup of tea was still too hot to touch much less drink so she waited for it too cool down while she played with the string of the tea.

"So when are you going to tell me what that paper means?" Ren asked curiously, testing her cup of tea before flinching back and returning her cup to the table.

"It means I'm still in the advanced class at the academy," Ami answered with a sigh, straightening slightly only to slump against the wooden table top again. "Technically my schedule didn't change all that much from last year but I did get another class because I'm a second year now. Iruka-sensei says that every year I'll be given another class until I reach ten classes in my final year when I'm thirteen or fourteen. He says that depending on what time of the year I was born depends on how old I will be."

"…I'm glad they know talent when they see it," Ren smiled at her, "now what is it about that girl that you hate so much?"

"I don't understand why I hate her but I do," Ami grumbled lowly, nearly pouting to herself. "I always have, ever sense we first met." Suddenly Ami scowled, her eyes darkening and her voice rose to a shout, "I can't help it! I _hate her_!" Ren was quiet a moment, lost in her own thoughts as they both watched the slow curly mist over their teas slowly dissipate into soft wisps.

"I think I know why," Ren said at last, "when were you born?"

"May 28th," Ami huffed, not seeing the woman jerk at the information, "At least according to Nee-chan."

"You have a sister?" Ren asked, her eyes widening and her face paling. She had lived with the girl for a year now and this was the first time she's heard of it, what was she going to do when the girl suddenly showed up in their house? She wouldn't think twice about blowing Ren's cover!

"She's dead," Ami reassured softly, "died when I was five. I don't remember her face much less her name so don't worry about it."

"I do have to worry about it," Ren hissed at her, "I'm your aunt, I'm supposed to know these things."

"…you only came into our life two years ago," Ami said, glancing up from her crossed arms to look at Ren meaningfully, "it's understandable that you don't know about my elder sister because father forbid any mention of her." Ren blinked in understanding and sighed her silent agreement, Ami returned to staring at her cooling tea. "…why do you think you know why I hate _her_ so much?"

"Hmm? Oh yes," Ren nodded her head courtly, "I belief the girl to be your opposite, your sister from another life line."

"Huh?" Ami gave her aunt a bland look

"I mean in a past life you two were sisters but something happened to separate you two," Ren clarified, feeling the beginnings of a headache begin to pulse just behind her eyes, "most likely bickering over a boy. That's what breaks up sisters the most."

"…I highly doubt that," Ami sighed, returning her forehead to her arm. Sakura didn't appear to like Sasuke, she's never once seen the pinket fuss or coo at the stoic boy in any of their classes, and he was in plenty of them.

"Doesn't matter," Ren chuckled, "in this life she is your opposite. Think of it this way, you are yang and she is yin, get it?"

"It's believable," Ami sighed, comparing their looks and personalities, "whenever she gets the chance, she's always running her mouth. I can't describe how much I hate her."

"Hmm, that's understandable," Ren murmured, taking another sip of her tea, "She is sunlight and you are darkness. Two sides of the scales that will always, and I mean _always_, biker and fight. If she were to die you would be lost. She is your goal, your enemy, your challenger and your companion. Whatever you are, she will be the opposite of, no matter what, you two will always go rounds. Just like Yin and Yang."

"…Yin and Yang" Ami repeated slowly, pulling herself up to look into her tea cup. The soft cream her aunt placed in it to make it sweeter swirled around the stark blackness of tea, looking just like the universal sign of balance. "Can Yang win against Yin?"

"Huh?" Ren blinked at the strange question, Ami looked up at her with determined brown eyes

"I want to beat my Yin," Ami said, her voice thick and hard with determination, "I want to overcome it, I want to be Yang without its Yin."

"…overcoming your Yin is difficult at best," Ren replied with a slight frown, "it'll take years before you're strong enough to overcome her light."

"Then teach me," Ami said, rising to her feet and looking at Ren with the look of a soldier who just came to terms with what needed to be done to win a war. "Teach me how to overcome my Yin, I want to beat her!" Ren stared at her, her face and eyes as blank as any empty scroll, her posture statue still.

"…Alright," Ren said slowly, "I will teach you what I know."

…

* * *

…

Shino lifted his hand as he caught sight of a small black insect flying unsteadily towards him. His insect had been away for an entire day, he was beginning to worry when it didn't come back as soon as the others. Every morning at the academy, he would send one bug to Ami's hair and retrieve the other one from the day before but today the other insect hadn't reported back to him so he sent another to find out about the previous one. The second insect returned to relay the previous bug's dyeing words: death, Sakura, danger, Ami, circle. He didn't know what the dyeing insect had meant but he made a note of it in his journal anyways, it would be best if he didn't leave anything out concerning the purple haired girl. Since the start of the advanced classes, Shino kept a record of everything his insects reported back to him; it even got to the point that he was tempted to place more on the obnoxious girl. He was literally detailing out her daily life in a journal, keeping track of every building she entered, every conversation she had, and overly detailed replicated sentences Ami had concerning anything related to 'Sakura'.

"What do you have to report?" Shino asked the bug as it rested in his palm, the bug twitched its antennae for a moment, silently relaying the information he was looking for. "You are sure of this?" Shino asked, his body stiffening at what the bug was relaying to him. He quickly placed the bug on his shoulder and grabbed his nearby journal, quickly writing down everything the bug told him. After a moment the bug stilled and fell silent, Shino's head snapped around to look down at the tiny creature, his eyes widened for a moment realizing that his informant was dead. Shino turned back down at the Intel he had gathered with his insects, over the past week and a half since the advanced classes began, he's filled three notebooks containing Ami's conversations concerning Sakura as well as Ami's daily routines.

_This is bad_, Shino thought, turning to look back at his room from where he sat on the open porch of his home. _I need to tell Shikamaru,_ Shino scrambled onto his feet and hurried into his room, he easily put on his big coat, grabbed a bag and stuffed all three full journals into it quickly followed by his newest journal with the newest information he had gathered. Just to be safe he grabbed his shiriken and kunai case, also followed by his pouch containing emergency equipment. He would have to hide the pouch under his coat or else his relatives would think he was trying to imitate one of his relatives when they left for a mission. The last thing he needed was for one of them to get suspicious and send their own insects to follow him around for the entire day. Then Shino fast walked to his front door, grabbed his shoes and hurried out the door; all without noticing a pair of glinting glasses watch him silently.

_Perhaps I should follow him…_

…

* * *

…

He coughed as he re-entered his home village, glad to be home since he was gone for the past two months. He imminently went to the kage tower to report, ignoring every questioning glance given to him by his fellow Anbu members. It wasn't long before he was standing just outside the Hokage's office window, waiting for permission to enter.

"Ah, you can enter," the familiar voice of his Hokage called softly, "I haven't seen you in some time, Nekoshi. How was your mission?"

"I apologize for the delay," he replied as he opened the window further, letting himself enter the crimson washed room, "the client was slipped false information and delayed the mission for a month. However it was completed and the target will not be hunting anymore civilians."

"I see," Hiruzen nodded, turning in his chair to observe the young man entering his office, "I trust you are unwounded?"

"Of course," Nekoshi agreed, his masked face tilting slightly in agreement

"Good, I'm taking you off the register," Hiruzen said as he stiffly rose to his feet, "oi-hay, I've sat to long."

"Sir?" Nekoshi questioned, a frown stretching on his face and sounding in his voice

"You hadn't returned on time so I was a little worried Nekoshi-kun," Hiruzen explained as he gestured for the young man to follow him, "I was forced to use another Anbu agent to take your place."

"The deal came through?" Nekoshi asked, following Hiruzen out of the office, "the advanced application was accepted?"

"Yes, I was able to convince the council to approve the advanced class," Hiruzen nodded as they walked down the hall. "Tenzo was able to take your place for the assignment but I'm afraid he won't be able to stand it for much longer."

"Tenzo was never an official member of my team," Nekoshi said dejectedly, "wait, take my place? What has happened? Is Sakura alright?"

"She is just fine," Hiruzen chuckled, "as the youngest in the team who found her, and the only official remaining member, it is technically your responsibility to teach her. But with the mission you took the morning of her academy entrance day, I didn't get to talk to you before you left. So I sent Tenzo in your place."

"He's not an official member of my team," Nekoshi reminded the Hokage, "he only joined us when Kakashi-san recommended him just after the Kiyobi attack. He was never made an official teammate."

"Still don't like him huh?" Hiruzen chuckled, "I suppose I can understand that. I wouldn't be happy if I found out that someone was pretending to be me for the past month and a half and was doing a remarkable job of fooling everyone."

"He's been pretending to be me?" Nekoshi asked, sounding insulted by the suggestion, "I'll kill him."

"No you won't," Hiruzen chuckled in amusement, "he's taken to protecting her quite well. He's even mimicking you nearly perfectly at the academy. The children like him teaching them, especially Sakura-chan."

"Lord Hokage," Nekoshi groaned, "please tell me he's not using the transformation jutsu."

"Alright, alright," Hiruzen chuckled, his smile stretching further on his face, "I won't lie to you, it wouldn't be fair." Nekoshi groaned again, following Hiruzen into a new room of the kage building. Inside sat two familiar young men, both bent over numerous sheets of paper, looking as if they were drowning in paper work.

"Tenzo-kun, Kakashi-kun, Nekoshi-kun has returned," both men jerked their heads up to look at the masked man

"S-Sempai!" Tenzo stuttered as he scrambled to his feet, white smoke enveloping his body to reveal his true form, "you're back!"

"I should punch you," Nekoshi growled taking a threatening step towards the young brunet, "be glad you were under orders."

_I am, trust me, I am,_ Tenzo thought, beginning to sweat as his superior continued to glare at him.

"Ah, Tenzo-kun, where is Inoichi-kun at?" Hiruzen asked as he looked around the room, "he was to meet with me here…"

"He just left to get us some coffee," Kakashi answered as he slumped in his seat, regarding the stacks of paper work wirily. "He should be back in any minute now"

"Good," Hiruzen smiled and turned to look at Nekoshi, "when he returns he'll show you every memory Tenzo-kun has of the academy and everything you've missed concerning Sakura-chan over the past month and a half."

"Thank you lord Hokage," Nekoshi sighed, "but are you sure that is wise? Inoichi-san isn't read in on my missions…"

"You'll be surprised with the level of clearance Inoichi-kun has," Hiruzen chuckled

"So then… does this mean that I return to Anbu duties?" Tenzo asked

"I should hope so," Nekoshi growled, quickly lifting his mask off to reveal his teal green eyes, "I can't belief you actually stole my name and face."

"It was with the best of intentions," Tenzo squeaked with a nervous smile

"The road to hell was paved with the best of intentions," everyone turned to the amused sounding voice

"Ah, Inoichi-kun," Hiruzen greeted with a smile, "are you ready?"

"Can I set the coffee down?" Inoichi asked in amusement, quickly moving towards the table to set the three sets of coffee cups down. "Alright then," Inoichi spun on his heal, pulled out two chairs to sit on either side of him and gestured for Tenzo to sit in one and Nekoshi in the other. "Hotaru Kazehitoha, Lord Hokage has already informed me not to look in your mind, and only to transport Tenzo-san's memories over to you. Is that alright?"

"So long as you don't remove any memories, I'll be fine," Hotaru said as he sat down and slanted his eyes at Tenzo, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"No problem," Inoichi chuckled, "it's actually easier to transfer memories then to seal them."

"Ready boys?" Hiruzen asked with a smirk, "alright, Inoichi-kun, whenever you're ready."

"I'm always ready," Inoichi smirked and closed his eyes while he placed his palms on both male's heads. _Now just to make everything clear—_

_Creepy!_ Tenzo thought, only to flinch when he felt someone mental slap him. He could hear Hotaru chuckled at his misfortune, clearly he was enjoying himself. Inoichi sighed and took a deep breath before he continued with his primary task, the purpose of him being used to transfer the memories and not someone else.

_In the advanced class there will be only three __**recognized**__ graduates, the ones with the highest scores._

_Everyone knows that,_ Tenzo mentally frowned at him

_The other six graduates will not be recognized on anything more than paper work,_ Inoichi continued, giving the younger man an annoyed look within the shared mind-space were all three of them currently stood._ To the public eye it will appear that the three __recognized__ graduates are the only graduates of the advanced class. Is that understood?_

_Got it,_ Hotaru nodded, _can we continue with the task at hand?_

_Now that, that's out of the way, we can proceed,_ Inoichi smirked and in the safety of their mind, took both men's hands and concentrated on sharing Tenzo's memories of Sakura and the academy with Hotaru.

…

* * *

…

Shikamaru ignored his mother's gripping as he turned the corner of his family home, one finger stuck in his ear just to peeve the woman off. He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of several of his more active relatives towering in front of a familiar looking boy, his insects hovering around him protectively.

"You two!" Shikamaru flinched at the same time as his relatives, his mother could scare the Sanin if she dared, "What do you think you're doing to that boy?" the two known Anbu agents turned together, their eyes wide and faces pale, it was a uniform—and silent—decision in the clan to never, _never_, anger Yoshino Nara. If she didn't do something to you, Shikaku would and no one wanted to get on his bad side.

"He-He trespassed Y-Yoshino-sama," one man stuttered, retreating two steps to show that his partner's shadow was connected to the academy student's.

"Shikamaru," Shino called, softly, "We need to talk."

"Huh?" Shino blinked dumbly at his friend, only to realize that it wasn't a question but a demand, something Shino virtually never did. "Come on in," Shikamaru said calmly, "I was just about to feed the deer, you can help me."

"That sounds reasonable," Shino agreed before dispersing into a few thousand insects, his head dispersing into a wide circle almost imminently, "I will see you there."

"What? That brat," the one hissed, his shadow retreating to release the bugs, letting them fly away

"Oi, cousin," Shikamaru called as he turned away, headed for the direction the bugs indicated, "Don't hurt my friend again." He may have appeared relaxed and calm to a stranger, but his relatives could see the clenched fists he had half hidden in his pockets and his mother could see the hard glint in his eyes when he walked past. She knew imminently that a silent message had been exchanged between the two boys and if she was right, she would need to make sure that the information was delivered to Shikamaru without anyone interfering.

"Shikamaru-sama, do you know that boy?" the same Agent from before asked, his head tilting slightly to the side

"If you can't recognize the Aburame clan heir then you're even lazier then my husband!" Yoshino barked, glaring at the two men, "How do two fully grown men—Anbu agents at that!—Not recognize Shibi's child?! Huh?! Tell me that!" Shikamaru continued walking away, ignoring his mother ripping the two men a new ear hole, something his mother seemed to be proficient in.

_So not worth the trouble,_ Shikamaru thought as he disappeared into the forest surrounding his home, just as he was swallowed up by its darkness, his attention was drawn towards the slouching figure of his friend. "What's up? It's not like you to demand something of me, not innless it involves Sakura or Ami."

"It does," Shino agreed dully, pushing himself off the tree trunk and turning to follow Shikamaru further into the forest, "Do you know a place to sit and rest? You'll need to with the information I'm about to supply you."

"Yeah, I know the perfect place," Shikamaru agreed, "on a scale of one to ten, how bad is this?"

"I'd say ten but that's village evacuation level," Shino said thoughtfully, "most likely an eight or nine."

"So bad enough I need to be sitting down," Shikamaru sighed, "Today just went from bad to worse."

"Our year might've gotten even worse," Shino replied calmly, "it all depends on what you've decide to do with the information."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed further and he nodded in understanding

…

* * *

…

Hidan rolled his shoulders with a smirk, glade that he was finally returned to his body after so many days of being separate. The only plus side he had of being separated from his body was that Kakuzu had actually sat down and wrote out all of the 'clues' or posable 'keys' to finding his daughter. At least they had a check list to work with, a way to eliminate those who had the least amount of possibility working for them.

Raised in fire country

About six or seven years old

Female

Has a name related to spring

Has red or white hair and purple or green eyes

Her fighting skill should be A-class

How hard was it to find one little girl?

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	11. Chapter 11

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 11: Never Underestimate your opponents

Koomahana

**Please keep in mind that Sakura is older than Naruto by eight months, so it stands to reason that she would turn seven before him.**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"I'm sorry what was that?" Hiruzen asked, his eyes widening as he stared at the three old village councilors in front of him, "you want to do what?"

"We want you to give permission for the annihilation of the Uchiha clan," Danzo repeated slowly, "you are doing nothing to stop them—"

"There is nothing to stop!" Hiruzen snapped coldly, "Just what has you so obsessed with their sudden activity? They're not traitors!"

"Hiruzen, you have grown old and senile, seeing brightness only you believe in," Danzo sighed as if disappointed with his old friend

"It is better than surrounding myself with the darkness of misery and jealousy," Hiruzen snarled back. "The Uchiha children in the Shinobi academy have taken multiple psyche-evaluations, not one of them holds any sign or even subconscious thought of betraying their village. And any questions per-turning to their parents have only shown that the children full-heartedly belief that their parents are as loyal as I am!"

"That is absurd," Danzo said in dismissal, "they are traitors, just as Madara was."

"Madara grew insane with grieve," Hiruzen hissed, "and his actions do not define the mentality of his clan. When he called to them to rise in rebellion they stood together to throw him out of the village. He is long since dead, so your argument is invalid."

"He was the face of his clan, their greatest pride," Danzo retaliated, "we have no proof that it wasn't an Uchiha who didn't control the Nine-tailed demon six years ago."

"Kushina-chan grew weak with Naruto-kun's birth and the fox took its advantage to escape," Hiruzen snarled lowly, beginning to grow furious with the conversation. "He attacked the village because he knew he could only be sealed into an Uzumaki and there was one within the village walls. He attacked us with the intention to ensure his freedom!"

"So says you," Danzo drawled, "I still say he was controlled."

"You are the only one in the village to belief so," Hiruzen replied, beginning to calm himself once again. "Why are you so obsessed with the Uchiha clan being traitors anyways? What proof do you have?"

"The memorial stone in training grounds three," Danzo replied calmly, "just what do you do for them? Their sacrifice has amounted to nothing—"

"Their sacrifice has saved this village and spared their children as well as the next generation and the ten following generations!" Hiruzen growled, his dark eyes turning icy cold with his fury, "those Shinobi died protecting this village, they died with honor! Do not sully their names with your pre-justice and hatred."

"I hold no hatred for the Uchiha clan," Danzo replied as calmly as he could, "they are one of the four noble clans of this village."

"That is right," Homura agreed, bobbing her head softly, "they rank the same as the Akimichi, Aburame, and Hyūga clans."

"But it is the Uchiha clan who is hailed as the strongest and the noblest," Kohaku continued calmly, "it will not be easy to simply 'wipe them out'."

"We're not whipping them out," Hiruzen snapped, "that is the end of the discussion." His councilors stared back at him, his firm voice and order clear like a glacier. Hiruzen would not, under any circumstance, allow any harm come to the Uchiha clan.

_You've forced my hand Sarutobi,_ Danzo thought, turning to look down at the list of things they had yet to discuss. _There is more than one way to skin a cat._

And his men had just located the perfect woman to do his bidding, he needed only to convince her

…

* * *

…

Sakura was turning seven this year, Ino almost couldn't belief that she remained in the Advanced Classes for three full quarters and she was working threw her fourth quarter already. Ino almost couldn't wait until the end of the year, which was two months away, so that she could rest from studying so much and just be with her friends for their month off. Ino giggled as she gently swung her basket back and forth, one hand clasped loosely by her father and the other held on tightly to her little picnic basket. She ignored the fact that her father was also carrying a larger basket and he was trying hard not to glare at every boy who looked at her. Ino's current source of enjoyment was from what she was planning for the day, it was the first day the advanced class had off, which meant it was the perfect day to celebrate her friend's birthday without any interruptions from any noisy boys.

"I-Ino-s-san!"

"Hinata!" Ino greeted loudly, letting go of her father's hand to race forward, "Have you seen Sakura?!"

"She's in the restroom," Hinata answered softly, blushing as Ino skidded to a stop in front of her, "this is my cousin Neji, my sister Hinabi and my guardian Kien." Hinata said, gesturing to each person in turn; Hinabi pouted up at Hinata before glaring at Ino.

"Your sister is so~ cute!" Ino cooed, crouching slightly to get a better look at the younger girl's face

"My sister!" Hanabi barked loudly and rudely, stepping protectively in front of the older girl, "you can't have her white-head!"

"Huh?" Ino blinked dumbly at the little girl, Neji snorted and turned away before anyone heard him and Kien closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"Hanabi-sama please be nice to Ino-sama," Kien said softly, "She is a clan heir, the same as you."

"I don't care!" Hanabi replied sharply, "Onee-sama is _my_ sister!"

"No one's going to take her away," Ino reassured, bending her knees so she wouldn't be so close to the protectionary dangerous little girl, "I'm her friend, not her enemy." Hanabi gave her a disbelieving look and Ino simply smiled at her, "honest Hanabi-chan, your sister gets in so much trouble at school with the older boys that I'm always having to save her."

"Lier!" Hanabi growled, glaring furiously at the blonde, "Stupid White-head!"

"It's true," Ino smiled patiently, "the older boys can't compete with one of your older relatives who happens to be the top of his class. So they take their frustrations out on someone who's weaker, younger, and related to that boy. AKA: your sister, Hinata." Kien's eyes snapped to Neji, who refused to look at him, going so far as to cross his arms in defiance.

"Ino-san! Hinata-san!" Hanabi's retort was cut off be a familiar voice, everyone turned at the excited shout. Sakura was hurrying towards them, her mother close behind her with a white basket in hand, "You're early!"

"And you're not?" Ino asked with a smile, rising to her feet, "Have you met Hinata's sister? She's so cute!"

"Really?" Sakura asked as she slowed into a stop, glancing down at the little girl, "I found her rather rude." Again Neji snorted, Hinata blushed, Ino blinked dumbly, Sakura gasped in realization and the three adults shared apologetic looks.

"Hay I'm clan heir!" Hanabi shouted shrilly, her pale cheeks flushing, "you should be nicer to me!"

"…why?" Sakura asked dumbly, "you're not nice to me so I why should I be nice to you?"

"S-Sakura-san, She-she's too little t-to learn a-about re-respect," Hinata stuttered

"But she's old enough to demand things from strangers?" Sakura asked in bewilderment, "Sorry Hinata-san, that doesn't make sense to me."

"Alright children, enough talk let's get to the park," Mebuki called, gently tapping both men on their shoulders as cues for them to usher the children towards the meeting place, "come on. The food's going to go bad if we don't eat it soon."

"Yes mommy," Sakura smiled up at her mother, quickly taking the blonde's hand

…

* * *

…

"You can't be serious," Shikamaru whispered, his eyes widening as he flipped through the pages of the book given to him. "Are these correct? Could your bugs be wrong? Could you have misinter—" Shikamaru cut himself as he saw the glare Shino was giving him, "no of course not. Sorry for doubting you," Shikamaru said quickly, trying to pacify the slightly older boy.

"What are we going to do?" Shino asked softly, turning to look back down at the open journal sitting in his lap, "her plans…" Shikamaru stared at the young bug-master-to-be and sighed, his eyes returning to the journal still sitting in his hands, its words slightly blurred as he fell into thought. Both boys remained silent for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts, both unnerved by a certain Violette and both concerned for a certain pinket.

"According to the information your bugs gathered," Shikamaru started slowly, "We have a few years before she acts. That gives us time to train and become even better in our family arts… we could even try to learn other skills as well."

"How much time do you think we'll have?" Shino asked softly, turning to look at the shadow user. He stiffened as he caught sight of a familiar looking little insect crawling on the bark of the tree they sat under. Shino narrowed his eyes at the little spider-fly, a unique insect loyal only to his father. Figures he'd get caught by his father, nothing he can do about it now; his old man is already informed and up to date on their conversation.

"…Her aunt says that it'll take her a few years," Shikamaru said thoughtfully, eyes narrowing at the feint traces of blue peeking through the great tree's canopy. "That could be as many as ten years or as few as two years… if it were any less she wouldn't have emphasized the amount of time it would take. There for… I belief that we have at least two to four years before she decides to act, after that we'll just have to figure out how she's going to act and how bad the aftermath is going to be." Shino nodded slowly and raised his hand, sending out a few more insects before returning his attention to the book still sitting in his lap. Shikamaru watched the dozen or so insects fly out of his sight before looking at the boy beside him, watching him scourer the book for more information had him smirking and soon he was doing the same. While he re-read the book and soon reached for another, Shikamaru began to plan a list of things he would need to do to protect his friend. Once he got the books he needed from the library, he would have to depend on the advanced class to take his body beyond its limits, even as he took his brain beyond its limits.

There was no way he and Shino could take their findings to the Hokage, there was no reason too, for all the old man knew they could be playing a prank on him. Besides, what were they going to say when he asked why Shino was spying on Ami? Or why they thought she was a big threat anyway? They may be clan heirs but they had no excuse to explain their actions. Spying on your fellow academy students was frowned upon, and over dramatizing something that could be blown over in a month or so would get them in even more trouble.

_Shinobi rule number twenty,_ Shikamaru thought, leaning back against the base of the tree he and Shino were sitting under. _Never underestimate your opponent._

…

* * *

…

Mebuki sighed and leaned back against her palm, smiling as she watched the children convers excitedly; or as excited as an ice cube, wall flower, princess, social butterfly and a social-outcast could get. She honestly didn't know how Hinata, Ino and Sakura became friends but she was glade there was someone there for her daughter. A glance at Kien told her that the young man felt the same for Hinata, Inoichi appeared calm and disinterested as he sipped on his tea. Mebuki snickered softly, drawing both men's attention; the children continued talking oblivious to their guardian's presence.

"What is it Mebuki-chan?" Inoichi asked, blinking slowly at he reached for a sandwich

"I thought it was amusing how those four became friends over the course of a single month," Mebuki smiled, sipping from her own cup of tea

"I'm afraid Neji-kun isn't a friend to the girls," Kien said with a heavy sigh, "he is determined to get first place in his class."

"I see," Mebuki chuckled, "at least he has a goal."

"Hai," Kien agreed softly, _now if only he were nicer to the girls…_

"Do the girls have any enemies?" Inoichi asked suddenly, making Mebuki and Kien still instantly, "I know Ino doesn't get along with a few other girls but no one worth taking note of. How about you two?"

"The Hyūga clan has many enemies," Kien said softly, activating his Byakugan without a hand sign, a sign of his true level of skill in his family art.

"Location," Mebuki demanded softly as she took a bite of her own sandwich, her eyes closing as she let the two sensors do their thing

"East side, twelve yards," Inoichi whispered, "closing in quickly."

"The girl with purple hair?" Kien asked just as softly, a frown twisting his features, "eleven yards out… big jump for an academy student…"

"She's in the advanced class," Inoichi said calmly, "I've seen her take part in Gai-san's class…"

"Her hair, is it short in the back with the left side being longer than the right, brown eyes, tanned skin, pink and red stripped top with a purple coat?" Mebuki asked, both men blinked at her in a mixture of bewilderment and amazement, "Her name is Ami Nanami."

"…nine and half yards," Kien said softly, refocusing on the girl in question

"Is she dangerous?" Inoichi asked, eyes looking up to lock on the girl, watching how she stopped and kicked a rock hard enough to send it across the park, passed the street and threw a store's window. She scowled at the rucks it created and continued marching forward, her hands balling at her sides and her eyes glaring furiously down at the ground, as if it was at fault for some crime committed against her.

"No more than her words are," Mebuki replied softly, "Why?"

"She just saw your daughter," Kien said softly, eyes narrowing, "she's approaching… eight yards…"

"…her speed has increased," Mebuki noted dully as she glanced at the fast walking kunochi-to-be, Kien and Inoichi both agreed with soft nodes.

"Kien-san, do you see that?" Inoichi asked as he froze in his seat, "Five yards…"

"There's something wrong with her chakra," Kien agreed just as softly, "what a strange color…"

"It feels even stranger," Inoichi commented, Kien snorted in disbelief before coughing, trying to hide his mistake, Inoichi ignored the younger man's antics. "Almost like fire but it's…" Inoichi sighed as he realized he couldn't quite describe what the younger girl's chakra felt like.

"It's almost orange in color," Kien said softly, "it looks like it's coated in electricity…"

"A lightning type?" Mebuki asked with a raised eyebrow, "I wasn't aware you could see people's elemental natures, although I can't say I'm surprised with her nature…"

"I can't see people's natures, just the color of their chakra," Kien corrected quickly, his head lifted slightly, "Neji-kun spotted her." Kien turned to the completely still and perfectly calm once-kunochi sitting beside him, "She's two yards out from the kids, What are we going to do Mebuki-san?" Mebuki opened her eyes and stared dully at the young man, her eyes narrowed slightly as she realized that the young man knew exactly who she was.

"Nothing," Mebuki said softly, "the children have been in the advanced class for nearly a year now, let's see what they've learned so far."

Neither male looked comfortable with that idea

…

* * *

…

"Happy seventh birthday!" Sakura giggled Ino and Hinata tossed large pieces of flower shaped confetti into the air, the small cake in front of them held a small candle in the shape of her newly acquired age. Hanabi was looking curiously down at the little white cake, as if she's never seen one before, before locking in on her sister when she saw the older girl move.

"Happy birthday, Sakura-san," Hinata said as she passed the pinket a small and light box wrapped in red paper.

"What are you doing here Forehead girl?" Sakura's eyes widened and her head snapped around, Ami stood just behind her with her hands on her hips and glare twisting her features. "This park is for Shinobi and their families, your weak butt doesn't qualify," Ami snarled at the pinket, chocolate brown eyes cold and hard like obsidian blades.

"Actually Nanami-san," Hinata spoke up, turning to hide her little sister from the famous bully, "Sakura's parents are shinobi."

"Her father is a genin," Ami snorted in dismissal, "and her mother is a useless kunochi. She couldn't even return to duty after giving birth to forehead girl. Properly because the ugly thing is too week to do anything worthwhile and needs as much baby-sitting as humanly possible."

"Ami!" Ino snapped, twisting her legs under her so she was in a low crouch, ready to spring at the purple haired girl, "how can you be so cold?! Don't you have any manners?"

"Don't you know how to keep your mouth shut?" Ami asked back, glaring down at the blonde, "Last I checked I wasn't talking to you white-head, I was talking to little Miss snowflake."

"Grr," as angry as Ino was, even she was confused by Ami's comment

"tch, I called her that because she's as pale as snow, which makes her just as ugly as forehead girl," Ami rolled her eyes, "she looks like she's never seen the sun much less lift a finger to do anything herself. To me, that just means she's a snowflake, and you know what happens to a snow flake." Ami smirked at Ino, animosity rolling off her in huge waves, "all snowflakes melt away and _die_."

"Technically snowflakes don't die," Sakura spoke up at last, "they become water and get absorbed into the earth, feeding plants and giving life to everything around them. If the soil is rich enough with water then the once-snowflake joins an underground river, where it then follows the course it'll take to the ocean or a lake. Once it reaches the air or sun, it can then become light enough to form air, which is essential to all forms of life, and regather in the sky. It'll then form clouds and when clouds become heavy enough that they can't pass over mountains, they'll drop as much water as they can, forming rain. Sometimes at ground level the temperature is too cold to let rain remain in a liquid state so it freezes and becomes snow." Sakura lifted her eyes and smiled shyly at Hinata, her left eye peeking timidly out of her pink bangs, "So in all technicality, Ami gave you a compliment Hinata-san. She just said that you are like the source of life and are invaluable."

"That was so cool," Ino smiled broadly at Sakura, a feint dusting of pink on her cheeks. Hinata couldn't do anything more than slap her hands over her face to hide her own bright blush and Hanabi was pouting up at her sister who didn't appear to notice.

"Ch, do you even know anything about your own namesake?" Ami asked, glowering down at the pinket, "your name is 'Sakura', after the famed cheery blossom tree. But do you even know anything about it? Cheery trees don't give any fruit, their branches are always empty in fall and winter, their roots never go that far into the earth and they always, _always_, rot from the inside out!" Ami snarled down at Sakura, her eyes nearly glowing in the afternoon sunlight, "Your parents hate you so much they basically gave you a death name! They want you to die so they ensured it by—" Suddenly Sakura was on her feet and Ami was on the ground, staring wide eyed at the standing pinket with one hand pressed to her crimson stained cheek; where the image of a perfectly formed hand glowing bright crimson sat innocently.

"My parents," Sakura whispered, her voice shaking, "they're nothing like yours!" Sakura lifted her head, a wind picked up and swirled around her protectively, lifting her bangs to show her eyes, "Don't get us mixed together!"

"Why you little—" Ami cut herself off as Ino stood up and took her place beside Sakura, Hinata was already moving around Neji to stand on the pinket's other side. "What you think that one sneak attach and you're queen bee or something?" Ami asked as she moved onto her feet, "I'm stronger then you'll ever be!"

"Ami," Sakura called softly, brushing her bangs out of her eyes so she could look at Ami properly, "My parents are warm and loving just like spring, which is our name sake. My father maybe a genin but that's because he was forced to retire early due to injuries and my mother was once a famous Kunochi, known widely for her Taijutsu and traps." Sakura sniffed and whipped a tear off her cheek, frowning at Ami as the girl continued to glare venomously at her, "Strength is more than the limits of your body, it is also the strength of your mind, heart and bonds. The people surrounding you are as strong as you are; their strength is your strength just as their weakness is your weakness."

"You're taking Hotaru-sensei's words a little too seriously," Ami snarled, "there's no need to rely on anyone but myself. Everyone else is just useless baggage—just like you!" Ami swung a kick at Sakura's head; Ino blocked it, her blue eyes narrowing into slits as a piece of dirt from Ami's shoe smacked into her hair. Hinata slid into a defensive stance of her clan's Taijutsu style, Neji held Hanabi back and Sakura jumped forward, slapping a hand across Ami's cheek, pushing her back. Ami took two steps back, snarling at Sakura, her brown eyes glowing in fury, she went to attack again but stopped when she saw something shift to her left. Pausing half a step, Ami turned her attention to the three adults sitting as calmly as they could under the shade of one of the great red oaks of the famed Oak Park. It looked as the two men hadn't moved for days, their bodies as still as statues but the single blonde kunochi slouching against the bark of the tree was another story. Mebuki was calmly sipping on her cup of tea, her eyes closed and her legs bent evenly beneath her, as if she was ready to jump into the high oak branches overhead.

"This isn't over," Ami snarled at Sakura before she turned and marched away, her fists trembling at her sides

"Something is wrong," Hinata said softly, relaxing her body, "She's never been so negative before…"

"Personally I think she's gotten worse," Ino huffed, placing one hand her hip and looking at her two friends

"Have either one of you noticed?" Sakura asked softly, staring at Ami's marching back

"See what?" Ino asked, looking at Sakura curiously, only to notice something different, her eyes widening in response

"She's alone now…" Sakura whispered, "Her friends are gone… and I heard her father was found dead a few months ago, leaving her all alone." Hinata gasped softly, her eyes widening slightly before she glanced back at Neji worriedly.

"Don't move," Ino ordered stepping in front Sakura suddenly, her hands raised and moving to part Sakura's bangs, "Don't move!" Ino ordered again as she hurried towards the basket, Sakura did as she was told, waiting patiently for Ino to return. "Close your eyes," Ino smiled at Sakura, standing in front of her again, Sakura blinked but did as she was told. Sakura's nose twitched irritably as she felt Ino play with her hair for a moment before tying something in it, she could still feel the gentle breeze rolling through the park.

"Okay," Ino smiled, "Open your eyes." Sakura did and found herself staring blankly at the blonde in front of her before turning to look at Hinata curiously. Hinata still had a slight blush on her cheeks but she smiled encouragingly before she turned to look down at Neji and Hanabi, both of whom were staring blankly up at her. Ino giggled before she pulled out a small mirror and handed it over to Sakura, who blinked at her and carefully took the small heart shaped object.

…

* * *

…

A few months later

…

…

She sat calmly, peacefully, in the darkest part of the great and renowned forest of Fire country. The unbearable heat didn't seem to bother her as much as it did in the beginning of her arrival. She had been moving from village to village throughout the country, searching for any little girls of the right age and appearance. In the beginning her sister was with her, for the first five years they were unbeatable and untraceable, the village hidden in the leaves never got close to them. Then suddenly, while destroying one little village that seemed to be neglected from the rest of the world, her sister betrayed her. Guess she shouldn't have been all that surprised, after their princess was born, Ren became less and less appreciative of bloodshed, choosing less and less of their targets. Now that doesn't say Ren still didn't act like everyone else in their faith, they still took pleasure in killing adults but when a child of the appropriate age was caught in Ren's view she would suddenly back out of the slaughter. Last Year they had been caught in the beginnings of another village slaughter; Ren had been distracted by a young girl and ended up getting caught by a leaf shinobi as a result.

_**Ruia**_

_Master?_ She thought, her body stiffening slightly as she finally established contact with her god, something she was never as good at as her elder sister. _Did you find her master? Onee-sama is she well? I haven't spoken to her in a year, is she still living?_

_**Ren still lives**_, the ominous voice agreed in the deep darkness of her mind, the shadows surrounding her shifted wirily as if even they didn't wish to be near the woman bathed in shadows. _**She lives in the land of leafs**_

_She still lives?_ She couldn't avoid the hope in her voice, she had sent in someone into the village to free her but Ren never came out. _But why has she not—_

_**Ren is not as you remember her,**_ the deeply mescaline voice interrupted, _**she has betrayed us**_

…

_"She's ready," Ruia snickered, dark eyes clued to the flowing mass of crimson spreading beneath the woman._

_"Push!" Ren ordered, eyes sharp as she watched the waterfall shinobi charge at them again, trying to free the red head and child._

_"No!" the woman shouted out, "You can't have her!"_

_"Push or you'll die!" Ren hissed at her, her fury growing, "Don't you want to hold your daughter?" the red head sniffed and whatever else she was thinking was interrupted by an ear-shattering scream, which earned a smirk from the twins as they doubled back over the woman's legs and readied to receive the child._

_"No~o!" the red head screamed out, another cry soon joining her own_

_"We've made it!" Ruia shouted out as her sister pulled the child out with the placenta, Ruia quickly gut the empirical cord with a swift movement of her knife. "It's a girl!"_

_"My baby," the woman coughed reaching for her child, "please, my baby"_

_"...She'll die anyways," Ren whispered, placing the bloodied child into her mother's arms_

…

_Master,_ Ruia whispered in her mind, _are you sure?_

_**You dare question me?**_ The voice asked, tone low and murderous. Ruia flinched back, her eyes threatened to fill with tears as she fought back the many memories of her sister's claws slowly being filed down as time passed. She didn't want to admit that her sister had been acting strange as the years slowly ticked by, she didn't want to admit that Ren had purposefully let several age appropriate young girls survive their attack. Ruia didn't want to admit that Ren had changed after the birth of their princess. She didn't want to admit that her precious big sister, the pride of their kind, would betray their lord.

_**She has not made any sacrifices to me in two months,**_ the voice whispered in her mind, almost apologetically, as if he didn't like the news any more than she did. _**Her killing started with drunkards,**_ even Ruia knew that their lord hated Drunkards as much as he hated animals, so why would her sister do it?_** Then she started giving me small animals and now she's stopped killing all together?**_

_Is there any forgiveness for her?_ Ruia questioned, internally flinching at the mention of 'sacrificed' animals. It was mostly an introduction ceremony to their faith, until the individual grows strong enough to take on adults or is comfortable enough to kill humans. The animal sacrifices went to Jashin-sama's wife, not he himself. After all, Jashin-sama loved human sacrifices while his wife adored animals; so it made sense to give her the sacrificed animals and he the sacrificed humans.

_**She has betrayed us,**_ her master's voice sounded in her mind, _**you will kill her when you next see her**_

_And if I'm not strong enough?_ It went unsaid that Ren was one of the strongest priestess of their faith, the only woman in their congregation to archive immortality; not even Ruia had that gift. There were only four reported immortals of their faith, two have been missing since the attack six years ago, one was her sister and the fourth is Hidan, Jashin-sama's son.

_**Then I will give you the strength to defeat her**_

…

* * *

…

**Second year Advanced Class Participants, listed by highest grade average by school quarters (we're currently in the)**

**Second Year, First quarter:**

** Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ami—Ino—Umeko—Sasuke—Naruto—Riko**

**Second Year, Second quarter:**

** Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ami—Umeko—Ino—Sasuke—Naruto—Riko**

**Second Year, Third quarter:**

** Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ami—Ino—Sasuke—Naruto—Umeko-Riko**

**Second Year, Fourth Quarter:**

** Shikamaru—Shino—Sakura—Hinata—Ami—Sasuke—Ino—Naruto—Umeko—Riko**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	12. Chapter 12

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 12: third year

Koomahana

**Okay, I did some editing; grammar, spelling, scene adding**

**Thanks to**** ' ' I was told that I was too focused on progressing through the years to the desired time age where everything goes down. So thank you ' '** ** for telling me about my mistake. (Okay, I've given up on typing his/her name, its not gonna show up no matter what I do, you can see the reviews if your that curious)  
**

**So when I added the 'growing' stage for Sakura and the others, I kind of ran it over board and had to split the chapter in half, sorry guys**

**The added scene is at the end, I hope you all like it **

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"So we're agreed on the Advanced Class's arm band?" Hiruzen asked with a tiered sounding voice, "these will be given out this year then?"

"Yes," Homura agreed, staring down at the gray cloth in question, "although I do wonder about the all the symbolism on such a tiny piece of cloth…"

"It is for identification purposes," Kohaku replied calmly. The stripes are in indication of the year the advanced student is in. So a second year in the academy would have to stripes while a first year would have one stripe. If it's done in read they're in the years one through four, blue is five through eight and none of the stipes are more than four. These large lines in the front are to make the emblem of the advanced students stand out more. The large decagon is the symbol of the ten Advanced classes in the Shinobi academy, only the eighth years could participate in all ten Advanced classes. The four directional arrows inside the decagon is the symbol of the four possible directions the advanced students could take: Interrogation, battle front, stealth and medical corps. The frame square in the center of the four arrows is the four sides of a cell: the Jonin and three genin. The triangle inside the square is the symbol of the three final graduates of the advanced Class. The number inside the triangle was the generation number of that particular child.

So someone like Sakura Haruno, a current second year, would have two red stripes on the band with the number four on the inside, considering she's the fourth generation of the Advanced training.

"A number inside a triangle, inside a square, inside four arrows, inside a decagon, which is supported by stripes in either red denoting one to fourth years or blue denoting fifth to eighth years." Hiruzen sighed, "I'm getting a headache just thinking about it."

"At least the children won't be approached by the senior shinobi who get up early in the morning," Homura said, closing her eyes in tiered agreement. They had spent the 'summer break' of the academy to think up of a way for the shinobi of their village to tell the difference between a normal academy student and an advanced student. They were starting to get tiered of the complaints from the Jonin about finding the children running across their roofs because of 'training'. Some even threatened to start putting traps on their roofs if it meant some quite when they went to bed.

_This better work_, Hiruzen thought with a heavy sigh, _I'm tired of the constant paper work and complaints…_

"Lord Hokage!" Hiruzen groaned at the familiar voice of a particularly fowl tempered chunin, "Naruto did it again!"

"…what a rude little boy," Homura huffed. Hiruzen rubbed at his brow, wounding just when the blond would stop with his pranks.

…

* * *

…

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester one_

_Year 3:_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Shino Aburame_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Ami Nanami_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Riko Yamauchi_

Ami glared at the board overhead, she made it again into the advanced class but she wasn't happy with her newest result. She had heard that Sasuke had gotten into the advanced class and she heard the rumor that every quarter his scores raised so he got a new placement in the ranks but she didn't belief it because they only posted the semester results. Even the annoying Yamanaka Heir was able to keep her original placement that she kept throughout the entirety of the previous year and appears to be keeping this year as well. Growling lowly Ami turned on her heal, briefly her eyes caught sight of the still remaining top three students with the 'fair' numbers four and seven flanking number three. At first she thought that Hinata had been laughing at something the blonde in the group had said but she quickly realized that the young heir had locked eyes with her and knew she saw the results as well. Hinata smiled and returned to the conversation she was having with her friends, completely unconcerned with the resulting glare Ami gave her.

_She'll pay for that!_ Ami thought with a snarl, she marched past the gathering group of children and went straight for her first class of the day. She had no intention of failing in her self-assigned mission; she will beat Sakura Haruno one way or another!

_I can't wait for Auntie's training today,_ Ami thought as she took a deep calming breath. Just thinking about the older woman made her feel calmer, her mind clearing significantly. She knew the woman wasn't related to her but Ren was the closest thing to a mother she had ever known, especially since she killed her own mother during birth. Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Ami looked up at the nearest door to get her bearings, marching through that agent school without paying attention to where she was, was a really stupid idea. The nearest door didn't have any little white signs with numbers or letters, just a simple little plaque that read 'B.O.D. Library'.

_Bod's library? What kind of name is Bod?_ Ami thought in confusion, _is this someone's personal library or something?_ Ami walked forward and carefully pushed the door open. Seeing that it wouldn't budge easily, Ami put her shoulder to the wall and pushed with both hands against the door, forcing it to open slowly and loudly. After a moment Ami stopped, fearing the door might fall off its rail at the top; she wasn't strong enough or big enough to fix it and the last thing she needed was to get into trouble for breaking someone's private property. Seeing that it was dark inside the 'library', Ami reached towards the nearest wall for the light switch. Instead of a switch she found something hard and round with something else protruding from the top of it, curious Ami grabbed hold of it and pulled it into the light of the hall.

_A candle?_ Ami thought in confusion, staring down at the little wooden candle carrier and its waxy counterpart. Ami peaked out in the hall, looking both ways of the hall before she ducked back into the darkness of the room and carefully closed the shaky door. Once she got the door as closed as she could, leaving behind only an inch of space between the sliding door and it's wall, Ami turned to face the near perfect blackness of the library. Ami crouched low before the door and set the candle down carefully. Double checking the darkness of the room for any sources of light that she should be aware of, Ami carefully formed a concentration hand sign. Taking a deep, steady breath, Ami slowly let it out and watched as the space around her lit up with the light of her tiny flame. It wasn't much and she had been warned by her aunt that the purpose of the little flame was to start fires when camping but it could also be used to light candles, as she had just done. Coughing horsy, Ami frowned down at the candle, not liking that she had to use her only elemental technique just to light it. Carefully dismissing the necessity and the minor percentage reduction of her chakra, Ami took hold of the candle and stood up. Lifting the candle a little higher then she properly should have, Ami stared out at what the light of the candle lite up, showing her a seemingly endless rows and columns of stacked books.

Behind her above the door, the candle lit up the bone white mask of a young man dressed in complete black

"What a strange place," Ami thought, not seeing young Anbu agent over head, "I wonder how big it is…" Ami stepped forward, lowering the candle as she began to walk forward, curiously looking up at the titles littering each row of shelves. Half of the titles were too high for her to make out and others were covered in too much dust and spider webs for her to read, some though were low enough for her to read. One row read 'Mist' (she couldn't make out the second word), another 'Interrogation' and another read something 'class'. Ami didn't have a clue what that meant but she did decide it wasn't worth her time to investigate it. As she walked further and further down the rows, she eventually came across an ail that read 'Elemental Techniques'. Now that piped her interest. Just as she turned to go down ail and possibly see what she couldn't read before class, Ami heard someone clear their throat and nearly dropped her candle when she jumped and turned towards the sound. Two ails down from her stood a tall old man with a bandage covering his right eye, a cane held in his left hand and dressed in a white Kimono with a dark blue over coat that was held shut by a single tan Obi.

"Hello child," the man said, his voice was low, low enough to remind Ami of her father when he was sober. "What are you doing here?" Ami took a step back and looked away from him, for a moment she could almost see her father's image overlap that of the strangers and it took everything she had not to start crying at the memory of the man. When he was drunk he was the world's worst father, when he was sober it was like he was a completely different person; all smiles and laughter, like nothing was wrong with their world.

"S-Sorry sir," Ami stuttered, "I... I didn't mean to trespass… I-I was just curious… s-sorry…" Ami didn't see the old man raise one curious eyebrow, silently noting her change in demeanor when she saw him and the change when a flicker of recognition and fear flashed in her brown eyes.

"What is your name child?" the man asked, not moving from his place

"A-Ami sir," she answered hesitantly, still not looking at him, "Ami Nanami."

"My name is Danzo Shimura," the man said, taking a step forward, "And this is my library."

"o-oh… s-sorry for trespassing," Ami whispered, ducking her head, remembering a time when her father would've struck her for the mistake. She watched the man shift and she reflexively flinched back, noticing too late that he was only passing by her, not raising his hand to hit her.

"Is there something wrong girl?" Danzo asked, pausing at the entrance to the ail to look back at her

"N-nothing sir," Ami whispered, still not looking at him

"Hmm… child, do you know who I am?" Danzo asked as he turned to walk further down the ail

"No sir," Ami answered softly, not daring to follow him as she glanced back at the door she entered through, wondering if she still had the time to run to the safety of the academy.

"I train the Anbu division, the shinobi who protect our village from the shadows," Danzo said, pausing to look at the wall and carefully removing a small yellow scroll from the shelf. "I train our last defense, the shinobi who are never seen and never heard."

"…oh," Ami glanced back at the door, wondering if she could still make it or if there were several of his 'Black Operatives' hidden but in her way.

"You don't sound very impressed," Danzo said, amusement in his voice as he turned to look back at her, "hm, aren't you going to follow me child?" Ami jerked her head towards him, her eyes widening in surprise. "That is why you came here isn't it? To find someone to train you?" Ami was speechless for a moment; she had already told him that she entered because she was curious, so why did he think she wanted someone to train her? Her brown eyes widened as she watched a shadow appear at the edge of the candle light of Danzo's candle, she couldn't see its complete form but she could tell it was small and wore a bone mask

"Do you want to be an Anbu operative?" Danzo asked almost curiously

"I want to be the very best," Ami said, brown eyes clued to the crouching figure with the slightly tilted mask of an almost curious looking owl. "I want to be stronger then the legendary three." Danzo thought that Ami was referring to the great Sanin and smirked in approval, proud he found someone he could manipulate. However, Ami was referring to the top three students of the Advanced Division, the three children who were quickly gaining status within the village. They were being recognized as the three rookies of the year, the future Sanin and the perfect candidates for the succession of the Hokage.

And above all else, Ami thought of Sakura, her greatest rival and the girl she hated most

"Well then," Danzo smirked at her, approval lacing his voice, "That I can help you with."

"You can?" Ami asked, her eyes widening slightly with surprise

"But of course," Danzo turned and grabbed the little carrier case his man brought him and let him disappear into the shadows, "I did teach one of them myself." Danzo conveniently forgot to mention that, that man became a nuke-nin and became the biggest thorn in his side ever since he defected.

"You… you can make me stronger than them?" Ami asked, stepping towards him, hope seeping from every pour on her body

"I can make you greater than the Sanin," Danzo agreed, pulling another scroll down from the shelf, "You need only to obey my orders."

"Yes sir," Ami smirked, twisting her body to face the ail so she could follow him further into the darkness of the library

_I will not lose to you!_

...

* * *

...

Shikamaru yawned as he walked with his group of friends. Ino was nagging to Chōji about his eating habits, Shino was talking to Hinata about another bug he found and Kiba was arguing with Naruto about something that was undoubtedly stupid. So Shikamaru found himself smiling as they each walked to their lunch location, assuming that Sakura would meet them there as she so often dose; her class was closest to the location. However none of them were prepared for the sudden blast of wind that nearly knocked all of them to their knees, the only thing saving them was Chōji's quick thinking of expanding his hand to cover all of them protectively. Once the blast of wind was gone, Chōji shrunk his hand back and rubbed at it fitfully, tears springing to his eyes as he stared down at the crimson splash on back of his palm.

"Chōji!" Ino cried, jumping onto his hand and fussing over it, even pouring some of her water over his wound to help cool it down.

"What was that?" Kiba asked as he turned to smell the wind, trying to catch a sent

"B-Byakugan!" Hinata stuttered, activating her bloodline looked around them

"Let's check it out!" Naruto shouted as he took off in a random direction

"Wait Naruto!" Ino shouted diving after the boy, "They might be dangerous!"

"Well don't chase him!" Shikamaru countered, only to groan and follow after the two of them as they both disappeared from sight

"I can track them," Hinata said as she quickly hurried after them

"You're not the only tracker!" Kiba shouted as he followed after her, "Inuzuka's are the best trackers in the village!"

"I beg to differ," Shino huffed following them

"…they're nuts," Chōji sighed following his friends with a fond smile, "but I love 'em." Chōji followed the obvious trail in the forest and easily caught up with his friends, his smile growing as he caught sight of something pink in the distance. His group of friends, however, were huddled together behind a bush, all silent and still.

"Hay guys—humerf!" Shikamaru quickly jumped up and practically threw Chōji to the ground, one hand smacked against his mouth

"Shhh!" Ino hissed at him, "watch." Ino returned to staring at what was beyond the bush and Chōji turned to look too, his eyes widening as he saw Sakura dancing in a large field. She held two large fans in both hands, she was spinning and twirling, keeping up with the pace of a violin that their instructor Hotaru was playing, the dozens of pink and red flower petals seemed to follow her every move. The first thing Chōji thought was that it was positively beautiful and that Sakura looked incredibly graceful with the flower petals following her every move.

"Is that… is that what I think it is?" Shikamaru asked softly, turning to look at Hinata as if she was the only one who could confirm his suspicions.

"Yes it is," Hinata whispered, the veins surrounding her eyes not lessoning, "she's practicing controlling the wind… I think she's preparing herself to use a wind style technique."

"But we're not supposed to be learning elemental Ninjutsu until we're seventh years," Ino countered with a frown on her face

"But wind nature is incredibly rare," Shikamaru reminded her, "remember? Hotaru-sensei said only one person in every few thousand are said to have it. There is a record of only four people in the entirety of the village who have it, two are dead, one is Lord Hokage's son and the other is Hotaru sensei."

"So the village only has two wind users," Kiba sighed depressed, "that sucks, and they're both male."

"Technically the village has three wind users," Shino piped up, "Why? Because Hotaru-sensei is teaching Sakura-san how to control the wind which means she has wind chakra as well."

"That means he must have Lord Hokage's permission," Shikamaru took in a deep, steady breath. "I can understand why, wind style is said to be the hardest element of all five elements to master. Couple that with it's insane rarity, you can see why those with wind style are each so different from each other, epically since none of them had the foresight to write down their findings for the next wind user."

"So then… Hotaru-sensei is the only one in the village who can teach Sakura-chan how to control her element?" Hinata asked softly, bright white eyes sad as she watched her friend dance, "then she in turn must spend the rest of her life searching for someone else to train, just as Hotaru-sensei has lived his life… right?"

"Most likely," Shikamaru agreed softly, "man that must suck, having a talent for something no one knows how to control."

"So... That explains why she's learning it so soon" Ino gave a depressed sigh, her baby blue eyes watching the petals dance around her friend. "Hmm?" Ino blinked, her eyes widening as she saw Naruto standing up. "Kyaa-!" Shikamaru quickly slapped a hand over Ino's mouth, preventing the girl from screaming.

"Oi! Sakura-Chan!" Naruto shouted loudly, distracting the spinning pinket and her teacher. The violin came to a screeching halt and the wind twirling around Sakura snapped out of her control, sailing straight for Naruto and nearly sending him flying into the nearest tree. The only thing saving him was Hotaru appearing and forcing him to the ground, even going so far as covering Naruto with his body.

"Naruto-san!" Sakura cried out worriedly, she dropped her fans and ran straight for him, panicked tears in her eyes

"Hay Sakur—" Naruto lowered his braced arms to look up at his friend

"You idiot!" Naruto yelped as a fist was slammed into his head, nearly knocking the blonde out. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" Hotaru asked loudly, towering over the boy as Sakura skidded to a halt, her green eyes wide, "Do you know how dangerous that stunt of yours was?! Controlling the wind is no easy feat! One misstep and you could've gone sailing out of the village and threw a mountain!"

"At least I'll land," Naruto said with watery eyes and a wobbly smile

"IDIOT!" Hotaru screamed smacking Naruto's head, Shikamaru's eyes widened as he caught the panicked look that flickered on the blonde-man's face, Ino had jerked at the sight of the tear that slipped past her teacher's guard. "Don't joke about death! It's not something to laugh at! Once you're gone, you're gone! There's no getting back up! No coming back to say one last thing to someone! No apologies! No—"

"I wasn't joking about it!" Naruto shouted back at his teacher, making Hotaru blink in surprise, having never heard the rambunctious boy scream. "I wasn't joking about it…" Naruto repeated himself, a little softer than before. Hotaru stared at him for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh, one hand rubbing over his suddenly against looking face, unwanted memories were forcefully shoved to the back of his mind.

"When you see someone preforming a jutsu, epically a wind style one, duck for cover, okay?" Hotaru asked as he squatted to Naruto's level and looked the teary-eyed boy in the eye, "countering an element with one that's superior is difficult at best but if you get out of the way you should be okay." Naruto blinked at him, sniffing he rubbed at his face and pouted at his teacher. People may think he was an idiot, and he acted like one on purpose, but that didn't mean he was oblivious; he knew what death was.

"Naruto-san," Sakura whispered stepping a little closer, Naruto turned to look at her, the first thing he saw were her teary-green eyes and the snot threatening to escape her nose. "Moron!" Sakura screamed slamming a fist into his face, Naruto let out a startled shout as he fell to the ground. "Do you have any idea how scared I was?!" Sakura screamed at him, "Do you have any idea how terrified that made me?! Do you know what it's like to lose control of something and end up putting someone you love in danger?!" Naruto stared up at Sakura in shock, his blue eyes wide and his mouth open as he openly gawked at the girl stand over him. Sakura wasn't one to raise her voice, she didn't scream, she didn't act violent, she didn't even glare at people. The worst she got was a sad, disappointed looking smile, as if she thought higher of you and then your stupidity lowered that expectation. The upside was that it was that look that made everyone around her strive to get back that smile, as if they _wanted_ her to expect great things of them. The down side was that sad smile made the receiver feel two inches tall for an hour or two, depending on how big their ego was.

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice cracked and it snapped Naruto back to what was happening, watching in horror as the tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks, "are you listening to me?!" Sakura gasped as suddenly Naruto's arms were wrapped around her, she could feel something wet hit her neck and she realized that the seemingly fearless boy was crying just as hard as she was.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered to her, "that wasn't my intention… I didn't mean to scare you…" Sakura sniffed and collapsed to her knees, taking Naruto with her as she wrapped her arms around him and continued sobbing uncontrollably. Hotaru watched the wailing duo for a moment before he took in a deep breath and turned towards the nearest bush.

"Come on out you five," Hotaru sighed heavily. "Don't bother trying to pretend that I can't see you," he glared at the bush, silently noticeing how the black ponytail tail and twin tuffs of bright auburn-red hair turned to look at each other. "Oh for crying out loud, I can see your hair!" Hotaru huffed, growing agitated with their continued silence.

"I-Ino -san?" Sakura stuttered, her teary green eyes widening in horror, her face paling. Consumed with guilt at the soft terror filled whisper, the blonde girl stood up and matched stiffly out of the underbrush. Shikamaru and the others were quick to follow her example, Shino appeared to be the only one who wasn't afraid to face the pinket.

"Hick I-IDIOTS!" Sakura hick-upped as she released Naruto to rub vacuously at her eyes with both bruised wrists.

"S-Sakura!" Ino gasped in surprise, her eyes wide as she realized just how dirty her friend was. "You're hurt!" Ino shouted, practically diving forward to take hold of her friend's arms and lifting them away from the pinket's body too look at the rest of her. Sakura's blue shirt had a large rip spanning diagonally across her belly, her collar was torn revealing a shallow cut on Sakura's lower neck, and her sleeve's cuts spanned almost all the way around. Her pants sported five new cuts on her left pant leg revealing three shallow wounds and two huge rips on her right showing a nasty rug burn and what almost appeared to be a kunai swipe on her lower calf. Her shoes were nearly split in half thankfully without any damage done to her feet, and her left hand appeared to be sporting one broken finger that might've happened when she punched Naruto. Sakura's right hand appeared to have been placed into a pot of boiling water; it was as red as the blood rolling down Sakura's cheek. Thankfully Sakura's face didn't get too damaged, the worst wound was one cut on her right cheek that followed her cheek bone almost to her hair line and her crimson ribbon was half tugged out of her hair.

"That's what happens when you try yo force the wind to do something it doesn't want to." Hotaru sighed, rising to his full hight and stretching out his legs carefully; seemingly unsurprised with Sakura's wounds. "You should be thankful Uzumaki-san, without Sakura's last effort to control the wind, I wouldn't have made it in time to save you."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously, Sakura sniffed then fainted just as fast into Ino's arms; scaring her and everyone around her.

"Sakura!" Hinata's eyes automatically activated without her hand sign or concentration, she imminently scanned her friend for any serious wounds, memorizing the girl's body without meaning too.

"Don't be afraid," Hotaru sighed, closing his eyes as the children turned frantic eyes onto him, "she's just asleep." The disbelieving looks given to him, made Hotaru pinch the bridge of his nose. "She exhausted her chakra reserves when she tried to force the wind into a new direction... She'll live," Hotaru added when Ino remained skeptical, even when Hinata had done a once over of Sakura's body herself.

"Is wielding the wind that difficult?" Shikamaru asked as he brushed his fingers through Sakura's hair, gently tugging the askew ribbon the rest of the way out. Seeing what he had done, Shikamaru sat next to his female friends and began to fiddle with the knot in the bright red ribbon.

"it's not just difficult Nara-san, it's dangerous as well," Hotaru answered, turning to look down at the children, seeing them all form a crescent moon shape around Sakura, as if they could protect her from everything wrong in this world. "I suppose you want me to give you all a lesson now that you're interested in Sakura's special training?" Hotaru asked, placing one hand on his hip as he stared down at the children. The children each looked up at him, Shino and Shikamaru nodding softly, Kiba petted Akamaru worriedly but gave a soft 'yeah'.

"Of course," Ino whispered, petting Sakura's hair out of her eyes, "I want to be as strong as her."

"I want to learn about the elements," Hinata whispered, her Byakugan still activated, she didn't elaborate why she wanted to learn about them but it didn't take a genius to figure out that she wanted to protect her friends.

"If you don't teach us I'll learn about it on my own!" Naruto said, trying to glare at Hotaru to hide his fear about Sakura's health, "I'll even go ask Jiji if I have to!"

"Naruto-baka," Ino grumbled, not removing her eyes from Sakura's sleeping face. "You can't just learn something on your own, sometimes you have to have someone teach you so you can learn." Naruto pouted at her but didn't respond, no one did, because those were almost identical to Sakura's words.

"Alright then," Hotaru agile slipped his feet under him and sat directly in front of the group of children, "Now I can't give each of you one of these, one reason is that there isn't enough to go around," Hotaru said as he pulled out three slips of square paper for everyone to see, "the second reason is that six of you belong to clans and your parents will most likely decide to beat my but for teaching you more then what you should know. So if you six want to learn about your element and how to control it you must have your parents' permission to test it and then you must ask your parents to teach you or to find someone who can teach you, is that understood?"

"Yes sir," most of the children answered

"What do you mean by six of us?" Naruto asked, "What about me and Sakura-chan?"

"Sakura-chan belongs to a civilian family, and I had her ask her parents before we started on this." Hotaru answered, "The other is you." Hotaru held one piece of paper out to Naruto, "Since you're an orphan you're technically under lord Hokage's protection and I should technically ask him before I test you on your chakra nature but I doubt he'll care too much." Naruto took the paper and stared down at it for a moment before looking curiously up at the pale blonde man. "Concentrate on summoning your chakra to your fingers," Hotaru advised, "as small as you can make it, otherwise you'll end up ruining the paper." Naruto looked at his friends, Shikamaru and Ino both nodded encouragingly at him, before he closed his eyes and took a deep steady breath. It took him a moment to feel out where his chakra was, but once he did he imagined creating a fishing line from the immense and endless cloud of his signature and carefully pulling it towards his right hand.

The paper split in half, prompting Naruto to open his eyes

"Congratulations Uzumaki-san," Hotaru's face slipped into a fond, almost proud, looking smile, "you too are wind natured."

"But sensei isn't that really rare?" Ino asked in surprise, her eyes wide

"Yes it is," Hotaru agreed with a bob of his head, "only one in every two or three thousand have it, to have two children of the same age to have wind nature is a one in a million shot."

"Dose the paper do something different for different natures?" Shikamaru asked, curiously, tilting his head to the side

"Yes," Hotaru answered with a smile, "the paper will get wet for water nature, crinkle for lightning, split for wind, grumble for earth, and turn to ashes for fire." The children each looked at each other and bobbed their heads in silent agreement, they were going to go home and hound their parents to get the test and then the training so they too can specialize in their element.

"Can you teach us more about the elements?" Hinata asked softly, turning her purely violet eyes onto Hotaru, "you said countering one element with one that's stronger than it, does that mean that wind is weaker against another element?"

"Yes that's right," Hotaru agreed, turning serious as he realized that now he would have to go into detail about the subject at hand. He pulled out a scroll from his back pouch and proceeded to draw out the five elements and their relation to each other. From there he proceeded to show them the sub-categories of natures, the combined natures that made up most elemental bloodlines. He spent the rest of the lunch period teaching the children about elemental chakras, halfheartedly making sure they ate their lunches while he taught.

…

* * *

…

**I do have a last minute question, should I just do a multiple chapter update to get back up to year five or should I continue doing the once a week thing?**

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	13. Chapter 13

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 13: year 3 part 2

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

…_Paragraphs are flashbacks…_

…

* * *

…

It was the second semester of her third year in the advanced class, of course she improved but she wasn't the only one

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester two_

_Year 3:_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Shino Aburame_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Ami Nanami_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Riko Yamauchi_

Sasuke had gotten fourth place, Sakura had won her third place by a total of five points. Sakura beat Sasuke…

Ami growled lowly, her fists shaking at her sides, her eyes glowing in pure anger. Her spot increased by one position and she only got that placement by a total of two points scored in her Ninjutsu class, the only reason her placement changed at all. Sasuke scored a total of four hundred and ninety-five points, Sakura scored a total of five hundred points—like usual. And like always, Shikamaru scored a total of five hundred and ten points and Shino scored his usual five hundred and five points. That scoring has always made them the top three students, there was only a total of five points separating each of them, that was why they were considered the prodigies of their generation.

_I refuse to lose!_ Ami thought, turning on heal and glaring at the top three students with their usual friends six and seven. Ami stopped almost imminently when she caught sight of Sakura, her eyes widening at the sight of the shoulder long pink tresses, steadily growing longer each time she saw her.

_No!_ Ami thought in horror, the words of her aunt racing to the forefront of her mind, _no! It can't be!_ All the girls in their year heard that Sasuke likes girls with long hair, so all of the girls in their year were growing their hair out for him. The only exceptions were Hinata because her crush was someone else and Sakura because she wasn't interested in the mysterious boy.

"_In a past life you two were sisters but something happened to separate you two," Ren clarified_

_No!_ Ami thought in horror. The last thing she needed was for forehead girl to fall in love with the same boy as her, it meant that her aunt was right and that wasn't something she was ready to admit. Sakura giggled and Ami watched in horror as Sasuke glanced her way and stared for a moment before realizing what he was doing and hurriedly looked away.

_Not him, don't take him…_Sasuke was the person she wanted to please the most, the person she loved with almost the same amount as she love she held for her aunt

_I don't want to lose…_ Sakura was the one person she wanted to beat the most, the person she hated with almost the same amount of hate she held for her father…

"_Most likely bickering over a boy. That's what breaks up sisters the most."_

_I don't want you to be my sister…_

Sisters were supposed to support each other…

Sisters were supposed to protect each other…

Sisters were supposed to accept each other…

Ami watched as Sakura turned with a smile, taking a step towards her without realizing it. When the pinket looked up and caught her eye, Ami flinched back at the laughter dancing in her green eyes, only to turn cold with confusion and twinkle with surprise. Ami took a deep breath and glared at Sakura, her eyes burning in fury and cheeks flushing in embarrassment. When Sakura took a concerned step towards her, Ami lost her patients and her temper snapped, she couldn't hold back her anger anymore.

"I hate you!"

She ran away before anyone could register what just happened

…

* * *

…

Sakura stood in Hiruzen's office, staring dully at the man standing beside the Hokage, one pink eyebrow raised in curiosity. The brown haired man stared dully back at her, as if he was just as unimpressed as she was. The Hokage looked as if he was trying to ignore a particularly bad smelling perfume, his brows were tilted slightly together, his mouth was in a flat line and his face seemed a little pale as compared to a few seconds before.

"Why am I being given an extra class?" Sakura asked Hiruzen, tilting her head to the side, "I thought Elemental training went to the advanced seventh and eighth years? And I thought elemental combination was Jonin level?"

"Generally you'd be right," Hiruzen agreed, opening his eyes to stare back at her, "however the elemental natures you show talent for are particularly rare. That is why I'm assigning Tenzo-kun to be your private tutor; he specializes in those two elements."

"I don't understand lord Hokage," Sakura frowned at him, "I thought I was being trained in wind release, isn't that why Hotaru-sensei has been giving me advanced material to practice when I finish early?"

"Yes and no," Hiruzen answered, "Hotaru-kun is the best wind user this village has, possibly the best in all five nations, however you also have the ability to use water release and earth release."

"Huh? But lord Hokage…" Sakura hesitated, glancing up at Tenzo with a frown before looking back at Hiruzen, "I don't understand, how can I have more than one nature? I thought everyone had just one elemental nature"

"everyone has one nature they _specialize_ in," Hiruzen corrected gently, "technically anyone can learn the five elements however that is difficult at best to learn two elements without growing old first. The only thing I can think of that could help someone learn all five elements before they died of old age, are specialized bloodlines."

"So… are you saying that I have," Sakura hesitated, staring up at Tenzo with a confused look, "I mean, wouldn't that mean that he and I are capable of wood release?" Hiruzen recalled that Hotaru had told him that Sakura's group of friends had stumbled upon her secret training with him and he ended up telling them about the five elemental natures and their sub categories. It made sense that she would know about wood release as a result, even ice release if she was smart enough to take in account for her talent with wind chakra.

"More so him because wood release is a bloodline, one he carries," Hiruzen agreed, mildly surprised that she caught on so quickly, "and as for you, theoretically you can use wood release as well." Sakura and Tenzo continued on having their little stare off, he was worried she might reject the young man as her instructor, seeing as he appeared to be in his late teens still.

"Lord Hokage," Sakura started softly, turning her big green eyes onto him, "Wouldn't it make more sense to have me training with someone who specializes in water or earth release so I can get used to using those elements before I try to learn how to combine them?" Hiruzen blinked at her, with all the stress of the impending war, schedules, meetings, fine tuning the advanced class and other such headaches; he had honestly forgot about the finer details of elemental-chakra mastery.

"I suppose you're right Sakura-chan," Hiruzen smiled at her

"However we're not going to send you to Mizu to be trained in Water Ninjutsu," Tenzo spoke up at last, surprising Sakura with the sound of his voice, "nor are we going to send you to Iwa to learn earth Ninjutsu."

"Ah, that would eliminate the best Water and Earth elemental users wouldn't it?" Sakura asked dryly, "I was thinking more about the best here in the village. After all, it is best to take baby steps instead of taking off at a dead sprint into a wall and possibly breaking your head as a result."

Hiruzen had a hard time hiding his amusement, it would appear that Ino was rubbing off on the young girl. Although another thought surfaced in his mind and he realized that Sakura didn't continue the conversation about elemental bloodlines, she just asked a different question. Did that mean she already took the bloodline excuse as an answer to her ability to hold more then one element? Or did she just not think further on the subject? Dose she suspect that she's not the Haruno's daughter? Or dose she think that they have bloodlines they don't know about?

Now more then ever before, Hiruzen wondered what was going on in that young girls mind.

…

* * *

…

Hinata stared dully at her father, resisting the urge to let her brow twitch as she had seen Sakura do so many times before. Her little sister Hanabi sat dumbly beside her, eyes wide, and her cousin Neji sat on her other side, as still as a statue. Her father stared back at them just as dully as he always did, unsurprised by their silent reactions, yet feeling a little annoyed with the disbelieving look Hinata was giving him.

"So… after a year of begging and pleading and giving up on you," Hinata started, her voice tinting a little in disbelieve, "you're finally giving in and letting me learn more about my element?"

"Yes," her father agreed courtly, "I do belief I just got done saying that you three would be going through elemental-ninjutsu training." Hinata glanced down at her little sister meaningfully, as if trying to make a silent point about the girl's young age, "your sister will do just fine."

"She's two," Hinata deadpanned, "almost three." Hiashi raised a brow at his eldest daughter, he never heard her speak back or even question his orders before, it was a little surprising to hear her do so now.

"At the academy their forbidding us from even practicing our elements if we're not seventh years," Neji finally spoke up, his brows tilted as he openly frowned at his uncle, clearly not agreeing with the older man. "The only exceptions being clan children and even we get in trouble if we're caught on campus performing anything elemental related."

"I can do it," Hanabi told her sister, big blue eyes staring at her determinedly, "I can—"

"No Hanabi," Hinata sighed, surprising her sister and cousin. Usually when Hanabi wanted something from her big sister, Hinata would bend over back words to get it for her, Hanabi was a hard core big sister-girl. "It's too dangerous," Hinata continued, trying to placate her sister, "even I wasn't permitted to learn elemental ninjutsu until I turned seven and that's only because I learned it on my own." Hiashi and Neji jerked at the information, their eyes widening in surprise. They never would've thought that after giving up on her father, that Hinata would seek out information on how to use her element on her own.

"…I have to be seven?" Hanabi asked with a pout, "I wanna learn if sissy is…"

"It's too dangerous," Hinata replied with a stern look at her sister; remembering the she walked in on Sakura's practice and watched in surprised horror as Naruto was nearly killed tight before her eyes. "I don't want you to get hurt..." Hinata whispered, trying to push the terrifying memories back.

"But—"

"No buts," Hinata interrupted, "If I find out you're practicing elemental ninjutsu before you're ready, I'll be very disappointed in you." Hiashi sighed as he saw the devastated look on Hanabi's face, there goes his heir out doing his eldest daughter, now how was he supposed to convince his clan elders that Hinata isn't ready to be clan heir?

…

* * *

…

Ino waved cheerfully at Chōji's mother and father who were sitting on their back porch watching the training grounds shift and move on their own. Ino smiled as she heard the ruckus her friends were making, feeling mischievous, Ino raised her hands into the air and summoned her element to surround the grounds and proceed to dose the two boys in icy-rain. Their resulting screams of surprise was like music to the blonde's ears. The rain shower stopped as Ino was forced into a laughing fit, wrapping both arms around her belly to keep herself from falling to the ground.

"Ino!" Shikamaru's voice rang out through the training grounds

"Uh-oh," Ino snickered quickly retreating to hide behind Chōji's parents, who only laughed at her antics. Both boys came running out of the training field only to skid to a stop at the sight of their elders, and their friend conveniently hiding behind said elders.

"I will get back at you for that," Shikamaru grumbled as he took off his shirt and wrung the excess water from it

"What was that for Ino?" Chōji asked as walked forward to his mother, excepting the towel she handed him

"I came here for lunch and neither one of you were ready," Ino countered with a smirk, lifting up a wicker basket for the two boys to see. "Did you both forget what today is?" they both stared at her for a moment, "March twenty-eighth" Ino reminded them with a smirk, placing the hand with the basket on her hip, imminently both boys gasped their eyes widening.

"Why didn't you say so sooner Ino?!" Chōji and Shikamaru asked loudly as they all but barreled over each other to get into the house and dry off and change clothes. Ino snickered to herself, proud she was able to one up the genius of their academy.

"Now Ino-chan make sure you be nice to the boys today," Chōza smiled warmly at her, "They've been practicing all day for their present they plan to give to Sakura-chan today."

"Oh?" Ino asked, her eyes dancing as she turned to face the older man, "Do you know what they're going to do?"

"You mean you don't?" Chōji's mother asked in surprise, "I thought you three told each other everything?"

"We do, but Shikamaru said I'm liable to spill the beans to Sakura if I knew," Ino pouted

"Ah, that's why you doused them with the rain?" Chōza asked with a heartfelt laugh, "Vengeance is cruel when coming from a Yamanaka."

"Been on the receiving end of my father's wrath have you?" Ino asked with a smile, her blue eyes dance, "Just what did you do?"

"A story for another time child," Chōza's smile grew wide, "I do believe you have an appointment to keep?"

"Hmm?" Ino blinked and searched for her friend's signatures, "Those brats!" Ino screeched, snapping on her heel and diving through the house to reach the other side, "You'll pay for that!" Ino screamed as she burst out on the other side, chasing her friends threw the streets of their home.

"You'll have to catch us first!" Chōji laughed, his speed increasing as Shikamaru laughed

…

* * *

…

"Alright you guys ready?" Naruto asked as he flipped himself to hang upside down on his chosen tree, blue eyes dancing as they locked in on Shino and Kiba standing just beneath him.

"Sure am Loser," Kiba smirked at him

"Hay! This loser happens to be in the Advanced Course!" Naruto shouted at Kiba, shaking one fist at the brunet, "Something you can't seem to do!"

"Get down here show off!" Kiba snapped, "Let's see who beats who?! How about a spare?!"

"That wouldn't be wise Kiba," Shino drawled calmly, "Why? Because Sakura-san will be here soon"

"Ghaa!" both boys looked wide-eyed at the young bug master, "If she's close then…" they both looked off towards the closest wall, staring worriedly at the entrance to their forestry domain.

"We're good," Kiba sighed in relieve, not flinching when Naruto flipped and landed on his feet beside him

"We're safe," Naruto grumbled in agreement. just then the sound of rumbling earth reached them, both boys looked at each other in confusion, not sure what was going on.

"An earth quake?" Naruto asked as Kiba knelt on the ground and pressed one tanned hand to the grassy surface

"No, it'd feel different," Kiba frowned

"SHI~KA~A!" the scream sent chills over Naruto's shoulders, making his spiky hair nearly stand on end as his eyes widened

"She's here!" Kiba and Naruto said together in complete horror, together they both dived to hide behind Shino just as two boys rounded the corner of their wooden fence and just barely made it out of the way of one skidding blonde.

"You two!" Ino barked, blue eyes flashing

"Run," Chōji gasped diving for cover in the form of one stupefied Hyūga clan heir

"Hinata!" Ino shouted with a bright smile, instantly forgetting her friends, "When did you get here?"

"Just now," Hinata answered returning the hug from the blonde, "I was able to bring Hanabi as well."

"She's still cute!" Ino gushed wrapping the startled almost three year old in a hug

"Sissy!" Hanabi screamed shrilly, clearly horror stricken with the blonde touching her. However Hinata was already paying attention to Shikamaru as he gave breathless instructions on what he wanted her to do, Chōji was laying flat on his back, looking like a fish out of water.

"I'll deal with you two later," Ino growled at the two breathless boys, she stood and placed Hanabi on her hip, following Hinata further into their specialized training grounds. "So what are we doing?" Ino asked as Hinata as she bluntly ignored the two cowering boys hiding behind Shino.

"You'll see," Hinata smiled at her

"Sakura is going to flip!" Ino gushed with a giggle

"She'll hate your present!" Hanabi snapped, struggling to get out of the blonde's hold

"Be nice Hanabi," Hinata said dismissively

"Ah~ you do care," Ino smirked at the sullen looking little girl

…

* * *

…

Sakura laughed as she walked with her mother and father to the assigned training grounds her friends told her to go to. Apparently at twelve sharp, she was to bring all of their parents to the training grounds herself, her friends refused to tell her what was going on. She had at first traveled to Ino's home, with that being the most obvious and closest home to her own. Then she followed Inoichi to Shikamaru's home and gathered both of his parents then they walked to the Akimichi compound which was close to the Aburame which really wasn't that far from the Inuzuka compound. Once she had gathered all of the parents of her friends, Hiashi had declined to come and told her to tell Hinata to return her sister to the compound when she saw her, Sakura marched to the assigned training grounds Ino told her to go to. The adults were all chatting together making jokes and Sakura couldn't help but to laugh at a few pour ones from her father, especially when they encored the wrath of the nearest kunochi. Eventually they did reach the training grounds Sakura's year has claimed as their own, and Sakura led the group in—she and everyone stopped imminently.

"Sakura!" Ino gasped her eyes wide as she stared at the pinket, "You're early!" she and everyone turned to look at the group of adults in shock. Shikamaru and Chōji turned very slowly to look at their parents, looking like mud covered children caught sneaking into the cookie-jar. Naruto and Kiba looked over their shoulders looking as if they saw ghosts, paint sticks held equally high to a nearby tree. Shino seemed unsurprised to see his equally unsurprised father staring back at him.

"Tou-san!" Hinata gasped, adjusting her hold on Hanabi and with her other hand, balancing a platter of china. Sakura blinked and looked back at the crowd of adults; sure enough Hinata's father had reconsidered and was standing towards the back of their group.

"Kya!" Sakura jerked at the sudden sound of realization, then flinched again when her father slapped both of his meaty hands right over her eyes. "You finish up! We'll distract her!" Sakura laughed as her father dragged her out of the training grounds with her mother close behind, her parents were so amusing.

"Don't go too far!" Ino called after them, "We're almost ready!"

"A lap around the neighborhood then!" Kizashi laughed, flipping Sakura to ride on his back

Sakura couldn't help but to laugh

…

* * *

…

She entered the dark library as she usually dose, she lit the candle and carefully held it as she walked down the dark halls to desk in the back. After a moment of complete silence and zig-zagging through the maze of shelves, she reached the dark corner where her secret teacher sat reading a scroll in silence as he so often dose. Before she could take a seat at his feet and pick up a scroll, or even to speak a soft greeting as she usually dose, his soft but gruff voice stilled her.

"Take this," the man held out a single square paper

"What is it?" she asked taking hold of the paper curiously

"Its chakra paper," he answered, "it turns wet for water, ashes for fire, split for wind, crumbles for earth and crinkles for lightening." She heard about the paper before, having heard plenty of seventh years gush about their newly awarded elements and how they learned about them. She hadn't thought much about her chakra element, she mainly focused on her Taijutsu, weapons, traps and basic Genjutsu techniques. She never thought she'd be getting lessons in how to control her chakra element, although it did make her wonder if she had the same or opposite type as a certain pinket.

"Go on child," he ordered distractedly, "use as small amount as possible to your fingertips." She nodded and took a deep breath, closing her eyes and concentrating on the feel of her chakra. There were times when she thought she'd never get control of it, it was always moving and thrashing, refusing to be tamed even by its owner. It took a moment too long to finally get a small strand of it and forcefully pull it towards her hand, she heard the man sigh and place his scroll down and turn towards her but then she felt something in her hands and heard a strange sound fill her ears. She opened her eyes and stared curiously down at the little piece of paper in her hands, not sure how she felt about the new information.

The paper crinkled

"Congratulations Ami Nanami," her teacher smiled at her proudly, "you have lightning chakra. That makes them eighty-percent less effective against you, depending on their strength." She smiled and rearranged her hold on the paper, examining it closely with a found smile, she would have to take good care of it if she wanted to keep it.

…

* * *

…

He sighed as he let his school back thump on the floor, he turned and sat on the raised wooden floor of his home, smoothly removing his sandals before he entered. He was beginning to wonder if he'd ever get first place in the advanced class, the highest ranked Uchiha that came from that class was Ameko and she ranked sixth on average. Well he beat that score but he was a part of the main house, more was expected of him, he was to be in the top three listings. Last semester he was ranked as fifth and this semester he was ranked as fourth, but the quarter exam told him that he attained that rank last quarter.

"Sasuke-kun?" he gasped at the soft voice of his mother and he turned to look at her in surprise, he wasn't used to her sneaking up on him, it wasn't something she usually did. "Are you alright dear?" Mikoto asked worriedly as she continued to dry her hands with a towel, "you look sick…"

"I'm fine mom," Sasuke tried to smile reassuringly at her, "You were right, the tests are hard."

"What rank are you?" Mikoto asked walking forward and lifting his school bag off the floor

"I'm fourth… again," Sasuke sighed the last part as he followed his mother further into the house.

"You beat Ameko-chan's score?" his mother asked, he could hear the smile in her voice

"Very good," Sasuke jerked to a stop at the sound of his father's voice, he blinked and looked at the source, finding the older man sitting at the table with a tea-cup in hand. It was rare enough to get acknowledgement from his father, so hearing that passing, soft, almost whisper compliment was just enough to have Sasuke smiling stupidly.

"Just wait dad," Sasuke said with a smile as he hurried over to the table, "I'm gonna be in the top three soon, and then I'm gonna be number one."

"Be careful Sasuke," His mother sighed at him as she set four cups of tea on the table, "I don't want you getting sick."

"I'll be fine mom," Sasuke pouted as she pressed a cool hand to his forehead, "I won't get sick, the trimester exam is tomorrow…"

"I thought you only had to worry about the semester exams?" Fugaku asked with a slight frown

"It is," Sasuke answered with a smile, "but the trimester exams are important to me because they tell me if I've improved at all since the last scoring."

"How do you find out your seat ranks that way?" Mikoto asked

"They don't put people in the same listing as the Semster one," Sasuke answered taking a quick sip of his tea, "the trimester exam is done by last name. So if I wanna know if I have more points than someone, then I just look up my name then theirs, it real easy if you know their name."

"I bet it's pretty hard if you don't," his mother chuckled. "Anyways, dinner will be done shortly dear, go take a shower and take a nap, okay?"

"Fine," Sasuke pouted at her, "ah, can I train a little before I take my shower?"

"Sasuke," his mother replied in a warning tone of voice

"I think that's a good idea," Fugaku interrupted, "I have something I wish to teach him."

"Fugaku," Mikoto used that same warning tone she just used on Sasuke, however, this time she was holding up a wooden spoon and glaring over her shoulder at her husband. "He's sick—"

"Am not," Sasuke retaliated, "please mom? I promise I won't be out late, promise!" His mother stared at him for a moment before huffing and turning back to the stew she was making, his father sighed and rose to his feet, ignoring the excited shout from Sasuke.

"We better go before she changes her mind," Fugaku whispered to Sasuke, just loud enough he could hear. Sasuke snickered and hurried out of the house, easily catching up with his father's fast pace through the streets and it wasn't long before they were both standing on pier of their clan lake.

"Alright, Sasuke, do you know why have this lake here?" Fugaku asked turning to his youngest son

"It's to practice our fire style right?" Sasuke asked with a smile, a bright light shining in his dark eyes

"Very good," Fugaku nodded and formed three slow hand signs, making sure his son watched them closely, then he turned and blew out a large stream of fire that grew into what could only be described as a ball of fire. "That is the grand fire ball technique," Fugaku said as he turned to his youngest and gestured for him to do the same, "you won't be able to do it on the first try but I want you to continue practicing it."

"Okay," Sasuke smiled and carefully copied his father's signs before blowing out a little candle flame, his face turned bright red as he turned to his father. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, the twitching eyebrow he saw was his father's sign of being on the very edge of laughter, which meant he found the grand puffing of his chest a little amusing compared to the tiny flame that was produced.

"Keep trying," Fugaku said, Sasuke didn't hear the restrained tremble in his voice and mistook it for a stern order

"Hai, Tou-san," Sasuke smiled and returned to practicing his hand signs and blowing out steadily growing flames

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	14. Chapter 14

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 14: Fourth year

Koomahana

**This has some minor grammer and spelling corrections :)**

**By the way, I've done a lot of these past two chapters on my phone, so if there's an incorrect word, Let me know, I might've tapped the wrong one when i was writing it up**

**other then that, I hope you like it! :D**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester one_

_Year 4:_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Shino Aburame_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Ami Nanami_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Riko Yamauchi_

_She won her placement again?_ Ami thought, her eyes growing dark with determination, _I won't lose now! I refuse to be beaten!_ She turned away only to freeze as she caught sight of her crush, glaring up at the board with gritted teeth. Ami smirked because she knew that now there was no way Sakura would ever get Sasuke's approval, because now he was determined to surpass her. There was no way Sasuke would ever approve of a girl smarter than him, he was the Uchiha clan heir, he needed to be smarter and stronger than the woman he married.

"Sasuke-kun," Ami called with a peaceful smile, drawing the boy's attention to her imminently, "Looks like she continues to keep her spot. If you'd like I can—"

"I'm not going to study with you," Sasuke snapped coldly, turning on his heal and walking away, "I have better things to do!"

_I'm sure,_ Ami thought with a smile, _but it won't be long before you get stuck, then you'll ask for my help._

After all, Ami was the only one who could beat Sakura in their Physical Ed

…

* * *

…

Sakura slapped a piece of paper to the north side of the highest point on building number five. She knew she was given hundreds of the pieces of paper to stick to multiple places on the buildings and then apply the precis amount of chakra to make the ink on the paper become absorbed into the building and disappear from view. She looked down at the ground and smiled as she saw Kiba working on the first floors of the buildings, he was taking it easy because they were on their very last batch of buildings to 'tag'. Ino had asked her father if there was a genjutsu that would prevent anyone from seeing her, after confirming that there was one but refusing to teach it to her, Ino had gone to the library. She got the scroll containing the information they needed, how no one knew, and proceed to spend the following month practicing the minor genjutsu. That had been six months ago. And every day sense then, right after school they would each gather their respective amount of papers from Naruto and go to their assigned lot of buildings to paper up before the end of the day. Because the few hours they had to work with, their project had been extended by a total of three months. Shikamaru was right with the expected time frame of seven months and Naruto was wrong with the number of buildings they could do in three months. Then again, out of everyone in their group, he was the one with the most amount of time to spend on the project.

"Hay Sakura," she looked up at the top of the roof, starring curiously at the hidden form of her blonde friend. "Shikamaru wants to see us, I think we're done." Sakura's grin was a mile wide and her eyes shone like freshly shined jewels.

"I'm almost done," Sakura answered softly, "give me a few more minutes, I still have the south side to do."

"I'm done, I'll get that end," Ino offered

"Do you have any extra pieces?" Sakura asked curiously. Out of all of them, Ino was the most conservative of the seals. Because of her sensing ability, she instinctively knew how close or how far to place each paper with the seals. Hinata wasn't so different with her Byakugan; more often then not it was Ino and Hinata who had left overs.

"No, not today," Ino answered, Sakura snickered and quickly slapped on another piece of paper before running down the side of the building to her next station. She hit the four corners and then the four centers of each corner before smacking one right in the middle of the section.

"Not bad Sakura-Chan," Ino whispered, "evenly spaced and still within range of each other. Plus the 'hide-me' seal takes effect almost imminently with you, the rest of us have to wait for it to fade before we can move on." Ino was still miffed that they had to hide the seals with their bodies before moving on, they couldn't afford anyone to see the seals and no one could know about them just yet.

"I'd rather the seals over lap then to have a blind spot," Sakura answered as she flipped over the roof rail, and landed beside her friend. "Let's go!" they were surprisingly faster across the roofs without having to hide from their elders, the advantage of the concealment genjutsu seemed endless to them.

…

* * *

…

Shikamaru leaned back from his work, examining the patch of earth before him. To his left was a laid out map of the western side of the village beside a map of the geography. He stretched out his shoulders and examined the rest of the five-by-five perfectly round circle. Chōji sat to his left and Shino was to his right, both were responsible for the north and south sections of the little earthen village. As it turned out, they both had earth natures as well and the three of them were getting better and better at using their elements to their advantage. With their abilities combined with Naruto's seals they were able to make up a miniature version of their village. The seals they were placing all over their village were sensor types of seals, designed to support a full three-hundred and sixty degrees of their very center, combined with a 'hide-me' seal and a minor genjutsu to hide them as well. Naruto assured them that there were more protective layers to the seal then they thought and that he'll tell them when they reveal their project to the Hokage.

"Hay Shikamaru," he turned at the soft voice and smirked as the genjutsu slipped off his female friends like water on a duck's back. "Are we done already?" Sakura asked, nearly bouncing in place, Shikamaru didn't blame her they had nearly lost their placements in the advanced class for this project; he knew she couldn't wait to be done.

"We've got the more populated area's taken care of," Shikamaru agreed with a smile, "now it's just the east side."

"Do you know if Hinata was able to convince her dad about the seals?" Ino asked as she hurried over and examined their work with a smile, "Darn it still a blank square."

"Most clan pounds will continue being blank squares since we can't get in them," Shikamaru replied with a smile, "anyways, the seals will still work on the clan compound walls, we just make sure they're strong enough."

"And not to get caught," Sakura added, "although I'm glad Hinata took care of her own clan compound, I don't think any of us could survive an encounter with her clansmen."

"Sakura-chan, did you forget that each of us dealt with our own respective clan compounds?" Chōji asked as he leaned back on his palms, "man this harder than I thought."

"At least we're almost done," Sakura countered, "and hay, you had Ino and Shikamaru help you!"

"We helped him," Chōji smiled back

"And they helped me," Ino snickered, "now that was funny. I wish I had that on camera for that."

"What? You did yours already? Not fair!" Sakura whined at the blonde, "I wanted to help!"

"You were busy with the shopping district," Ino smiled at her, "Come on, we better let Hinata and Naruto know about our sides."

"Hold up for a sec," Shikamaru said as he stretched his arms and stiffly rose to his feet. Sakura and Ino glanced at each other before following him over to the untouched eastern side, Shikamaru crouched and let his chakra flow into the seal stationed just in front of him. with a jolt the earth in front of him snapped up into place, taking on the forms of the forest and buildings of the eastern side. Shikamaru blinked at the almost complete picture of the eastern side and quickly looked back and forth at the map on the ground beside him and the detail of three-D map in front of him.

"Wow," Sakura and Ino whispered together, stopping behind Shikamaru as Shino and Chōji crawled over to look themselves.

"Now that's detail," Shino said in a voice of admiration, "Why? Because they included the trees." The others blinked and looked back at the rest of the map, together they all groaned. Chōji flopped on the ground beside his friend, burying his face in his arms and Shikamaru leaned back against Ino's legs, head braced on her knuckles because she was bracing herself on her knees.

"We have to put those things on the trees?" Sakura asked in misery, "just how many are going on the _trees_?"

"Only one," the group all blinked and turned at the soft voice. Together Hinata and Naruto touched ground, Kiba close behind them. "He found out that trees only need one seal on their trunk," Hinata smiled at them as she approached, "pretty neat right?"

"Yeah but… we have to go back through the rest of the village now," Ino sighed, "And here I thought we were done~"

"Don't worry Ino," Naruto smirked at her, "You guys are done. I can handle the rest," they each looked at him with a raised eyebrow, silently asking how he could handle every tree in the village. "What? I handled the eastern forest by myself didn't I?"

"Only because I handled all the buildings," Hinata smiled, "Plus Kiba was able to help us out from time to time."

"Not to mention that Hinata can sneak out and Naruto doesn't have a curfew," Kiba grumbled, "Seriously, have you even gone home in the past month?"

"Oi! I have too gone home!" Naruto snapped at him

"Oh yeah? When?" Kiba asked, butting his head against the blonde's

"Both of you stop it," Shikamaru said as he sat up straight, staring pointedly at the three-D map, "I just got an idea…" Sakura smiled at Shikamaru before looking at Ino

"How about a sleep over?" Sakura asked, Ino blinked dumbly for a moment before squealing loudly and wrapping her arms around Sakura's neck, "Hinata, you too right?"

"I don't see why not," Hinata agreed with a smile, already understanding what was going on

"Great," Shikamaru smirked back at Sakura before looking down at Chōji then over at Shino. "I can ask if Chōji can stay the night, my dad would be too lazy to check, my mom is the real concern."

"We can say we went out training," Chōji said as he rolled over and looked up at his friend, "that worked last time."

"Yeah, because we were training," Shikamaru sighed

"She didn't know that," Chōji smiled

"Naruto you're a bad influence!" Ino barked, "Chōji never would've suggested that before he met you!"

"You're welcome," Naruto smiled at her, completely unfazed by the insult

"Naruto will not have a problem sneaking out of his house too meet us," Kiba drawled unimpressed with now common knowledge, "Shino and I are the real suckers. My mom _literally_ dose rounds, half the time I think she's a sleep doing it and then there's a kunai stuck to the wall over my head."

"It might be safer if you just stay home," Shikamaru sighed, with a smile, "Shino you might as well stay home too"

"I will find a way to meet you here," Shino replied calmly, his voice held no room for argument, making the girls giggle at his stubbornness.

"Alright then," Sakura smiled at them, "How's ten sound?"

"Like curfew," Sakura stilled as there was a loud thump behind her, she could nearly feel the cold breath of the man standing behind her. Slowly Sakura and Ino separated and turned frightened eyes towards the man standing behind them, the bone mask of a mouse was the first thing Ino saw and that was it. The blonde screamed shrilly and jumped back, pushing Sakura away and tripping over Chōji as she tried to scramble away from the animal she hates most.

"Look out!" Kiba shouted

"Oh no!" Shikamaru shouted at the same time, he tried to jump to his feet and grab Ino before she landed on their little stone village but he knew he wouldn't make in time. No one moved as Ino fell in slow motion, her eyes widening as she realized just where she was going to land. Just before she made contact with their tallest building, wind howled and formed a protective barrier over the little village. For a silent moment Ino was suspended then she was turned and gently disposed on the other side of the village, away from the rat masked man. Shikamaru snapped around in time to stare wide-eyed at Sakura. She had her left hand braced in front of her close to her chest and her right was flung out towards the stone mini-village, beneath her left palm was a small triangular almost tornado looking spinning air current, keeping her suspended in the air. Then she lost concentration and the two wind currents ceased to exist while Sakura went face first into the dirt, coughing and hacking as if someone had just punched her in the stomach.

"Sakura!" Ino shouted, her friends jumped forward to surround the pinket, but Shino, Naruto and Kiba were restrained by other Anbu agents appearing from the shadows of the forest that surrounded them. Ino yelped as another agent grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind herself, threatening to dislocate her shoulder.

"Let go of me!" Ino snapped, watching with teary eyes as Chōji snapped up while Shikamaru dived toward and snatched Sakura away from the closest man. "That hurts!" Ino yelped as the man restraining her pull a little more on her arm.

"Hay! Let go of her!" Naruto shouted, nearly breaking his restrainer's hold, "your hurting her!"

"He's right Cobra," the man in the rat mask agreed, "lighten up." The man's hold loosened but not enough to let Ino put her feet flat on the ground comfortably.

"This isn't necessary," Hinata spoke evenly, starring at her would be restrainer. "We aren't breaking any laws."

"Lets have lord Hokage decide that," Cobra drawled

"No!" everyone shouted, only to flinch as their respective restrainers tightened their hold

"P...pres~sent," the Anbu agent with the rat mask stared down at Sakura

"Present? Like a birthday present?" He questioned and she weakly nodded against Shikamaru's shoulder. "For who?" The rat masked man asked as he crouched to look into Sakura's eyes, "who would want a perfect map of the village?"

"Lord Hokage," Shikamaru sighed in answer, "we created this for lord Hokage."

"His birthday is coming up and we wanted to do something nice for him," Chōji whispered as he slowly pulled his feet under him do he could sit beside his best friend. "He did create the advanced class so we thought that we should make him something that was created by all of our combined skills we got from the specialized training." The group of Anbu starred at the group of children, as if they weren't seeing them but were thinking of the pros and cons of the mini-village.

"Who created the seals?" Rat-mask asked as he turned to examine the other children curiously.

"I did," Naruto answered, silence filled the little clearing as Naruto glared heatedly at the apparent leader.

"Who placed them?" He asked

"I did," Hinata answered coldly

"All of us," Shikamaru corrected easily

"Who made the village?" He asked, turning his hidden face towards Shikamaru, already knowing that appeared to be the leader of the small group.

"Shikamaru and me," Chōji answered softly, flinching when the Rat-face turned towards him

"And?" He asked patiently, Chōji opened his mouth to say 'no one else' but another voice interrupted.

"Me," Chōji snapped around at the voice, eyes widening as Shino stood defiantly in front of the agent holding his right wrist. "I helped," Shino repeated evenly.

"I-I did too," Kiba spoke up, Akamaru barked from inside his jacket; he wasn't scared of the Anbu agents, he was scared of what his mother was going to do when she found out—there was a reason he didn't sneak out at night.

"No, you nearly blew it up," Naruto countered dryly

"Shut up!" Kiba hissed, glaring at him "don't sweat the details."

"Cobra, release ," rat-mask sighed, "they're not a threat." Cobra hesitated but did so, Ino imminently dosed him in a bucket of ice-cold water

"That was for trying to break my arm!" Ino snapped at him

"You brat," he hissed, she could nearly see his eyes flash red behind his mask, she lowered herself into a her family's Taijutsu stance.

"Call of your friend," Rat-face ordered Shikamaru, he raised an eyebrow when he received a snort in response

"No one tells Ino Yamanaka what to do other than her father," Shikamaru drawled, "and that's on a good day."

"Today is not a good day," Chōji grumbled watching Ino and the agent carefully

"Ino Yamanaka?" the agent closest to Hinata repeated, "As the Yamanaka clan heir?"

"The one and only," Ino replied coldly, a smirk on her face as she heard Sakura cough and push herself out of Shikamaru's lap

"I'm fine now," Sakura whispered, leaning into Shikamaru's hold as he scratched the spot between her shoulder blades, trying to make her feel a little more comfortable

"Ah, then that means this group is…" the woman trailed off as she examined each them closely, "Ah~ the famed genius three, the tridents of the Advanced Class." Everyone but Ino looked at her strangely, Ino countered to three before she huffed and dropped her stance, she turned around and put one hand on her hip.

"What?" Ino questioned dumbly, "What are you talking about?"

"The three top students of the third years have remained the top three students since their first year," the woman explained, "Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame and Sakura Haruno. Not once in the past three years have these three lost their places, not even in the quarter examines."

"So… we're called the tridents?" Shikamaru asked with a disgruntled look, "that's… dumb."

"I believe we are called that because in all of the quarter exams our places have yet to be moved or wavered," Shino explained.

"Ah!" Naruto gasped, his eyes brightening as he seemed to realize something, "Does this mean we're off the hook?!"

"No," Rat-mask drawled

Everyone groaned and bowed their heads

"We'll help you," the woman said, a smile in her voice. It took a moment but Naruto was suddenly cheering loudly, he even grabbed Hinata and spun her around for a moment before she feinted and he was forced to hand her over to Kiba and Shino.

…

* * *

…

Hiruzen smiled as several members of his Anbu lead him through the halls of his tower. He knew this particular group had been taking on an unusual amount of sick and vacation days. He knew they were up to some thing he just didn't know what.

"We're almost there lord Hokage," Hawk said softly as they took a turn down another hall. Hiruzen could hear the amusment in his voice and he could almost imagine the man as he was when he was a child, always hyper and bouncing around as if a ton of sugar was poured down his throat.

"I can't help but wonder just were we're going," Hiruzen smiled back, "I've noticed we're quite close to the academy." He noticed how Cobra and Sapphire glanced at each other as they walked; he hummed just to see their reactions and was pleasantly surprised to see sapphire stiffen.

"We're here Lord Hokage," Hawk said, his voice trembling with amusment. Hiruzen hummed as she stopped in front of the door, his eyebrow raised at the familiar name of 'Info. Station 1', he didn't recall there being such a room but he wasn't surprised that his most rambunctious Anbu Unit would create one for him. "Shall we go in sir?" Hawk asked, gesturing for him to open the door, if not for his hat, Hiruzen was sure that they would've snickered at his eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. Considering he was mostly bald, he wouldn't be surprised they'd start rolling on the floor laughing. Holding back a chuckle at his on amusment, Hiruzen stepped forward and opened the door, old habits let him let go of the door and consequently avoid the bucket of water that fell from above.

"NARUTO!" two female voices roared, followed by a familiar boyish scream, Hiruzen chuckled as he entered the room, careful to avoid the bucket and puddle of water. Inside he found the red room painted bright red and decorated with yellow and white streamers, candles, a table full of presents, a table with a semi-large cake with the candles forming the numbers 'seventy-six' and a large curtain hiding something in the center of the room. Just before the large curtain stood eight familiar children: Ino had Naruto in a headlock, Sakura was scolding him gently, Hinata was watching with a fond smile, Shikamaru looked like he was thinking sleeping on his feet, Chōji was happily eating away on his favorite chips, Shino was standing close to the window with a bug in hand and Kiba was laughing from his seat on the wall with Akamaru stationed at his feet.

"My, my," Hiruzen chuckled as he walked further into the room, letting his dark eyes wonder over the beautifully decorated room, although admittedly it looked as if the children made all of the decorations with paper and clue. "How beautiful," Hiruzen turned to the children with a fond smile, "I did you do this all by yourself?"

"Jiji!" Naruto shouted, flying out of Ino's hold and straight into Hiruzen's laughing arms, "We all worked really hard for your present Jiji! It took us nearly the whole year to finish it!"

"Idiot!" Ino whined, slapping a hand to her face, "you're not supposed to tell him about it yet!" Naruto just laughed at her, even going so far as sticking his tong out at her, Sakura snickered and Ino gave a very unimpressed look.

"Per-perhaps… we should start?" Hinata asked softly, her cheeks pinkening as everyone turned to look at her

"That's a great Idea Hinata-chan," Sakura smiled at her, "hay lord Hokage, is your son in the village?"

"I should hope so," Hiruzen answered with a chuckle, "I haven't sent him out on any missions."

"That's great!" Sakura clapped her hands and turned to the Anbu agent trying to sneak into the nearest corner to hide from them, "ne~ Cobra-san, could pretty please go get him please?" the man stilled and turned very slowly to look back at her, for a moment it appeared as if he was glaring at her and Hiruzen was just about to reprimand him for it when the man's head collided with the wall. Hiruzen stared dumbly as the ever calm man repeatedly smacked his forehead on the wall four times before he headed out of the room, Hiruzen turned to look at Hawk expectantly.

"For some reason," Hawk started, "He can't deny her anything she asks." Hiruzen chuckled in amusement as Sakura and Ino cheered for Cobra's success.

…

* * *

…

Azuma had a bad feeling all day and as the day came and went and night was suddenly thrust upon him, his feeling steadily grew worse. His bad feeling seemed to be amplified when the ever famed Cobra appeared in his classroom door way, when the man said that his father wanted him ASAP, Azuma disappeared from his classroom and ran for everything he was worth to the Kage building. He had just lost his little brother and his sister-in-law, he wasn't about to lose his father as well, not when that old man and him were all that little Konohamaru had left. Azuma first ran to the office Hiruzen was in the most often, seeing it empty and dark, Azuma quickly sprinted through the room to reach the receptionist's desk on the other side. She stuttered out the direction his father went and he quickly followed, when he hit a cross road he stopped and thought he should go left but then a loud scream echoed down the hall from his right and he quickly followed with a new found urgency.

"Dad!" Azuma shouted as he slammed open the door he thought the scream came from, he was instantly dosed in what he could only hope to be water. Inside he found a nicely decorated room with a curtain hiding something in the center, a group of children, his very amused looking father and a few relaxed Anbu longing around the room.

"Naruto! Get a way!" Ino screamed shrilly, Azuma looked at her dully, realizing that it was her scream he heard. Naruto was holding a little black spider out to her with a mischievous grin, Ino meanwhile was standing on a chair in the corner, looking as if she was willing to climb the corner without chakra if it meant getting away from the creepy looking thing.

"Naruto-san please be nice," Azuma turned at the polite voice and saw Sakura standing on a stool near the table that housed the cake and other small foods, she had one knife in hand that was smeared white with the frosting of the cake, she was holding out one plate with a nicely sized cut of cake out to Sapphire. Hinata stood close by on a stool herself, handing a plate of food out to Cobra, a shy smile on her soft pink cheeks.

"What's going on?" Azuma asked as he walked further into the room, kicking the blue bucket into the hallway and away from the mischievous brat in the room. The children each looked at him, some more curious than others, and his father greeted him with a warm smile.

"Azume-sensei?" Sakura called curiously, "What are you doing here Sensei?"

"Aren't you supposed to be grading someone's homework or something?" Naruto asked as he handed the spider over to Shino and hurried over to Sakura so he could get his share of the cake too. Azume blinked and then glared at the blonde, he marched over and grabbed the blonde up by the scruff of his neck. "Ah! Put me down!"

"You little brat," Azuma drawled in annoyance, "You skipped school today!"

"So?!" Naruto asked loudly as he flayed his feet around

"Naruto-san! Stop kicking! You'll get dirt in the food," Sakura said hurriedly, trying her best to cover the food before her worries were confirmed.

"Not just you either," Azuma lowered Naruto to the floor but didn't let go of him, he turned a disappointed look onto Sakura and Hinata, both shrank back. "You two did as well," he turned to look at the other children who were steadily and sullenly walking back towards him, "so did you four! I mean five!" Azuma quickly corrected himself when he saw Ino carefully slide down the wall and into Sapphire's arms so she could stand on the floor without the worry of an ugly spider crawling near her.

"It was with love," Sakura said softly, blinking big green eyes at Azuma

"Don't give me that cheesy line!" Azuma barked

"Now, now Azuma calm down," Hiruzen chuckled, "here have some cake." Azmua stared at his father dumbly, not quite believing that he was actually condoning skipping school.

"Father," Azuma drawled in disbelieve

"Father?!" Azuma glanced down at the children in curiosity; they were all staring up at him in surprise, as if they couldn't believe what they just heard.

"You're Jiji's son?" Naruto asked, he actually sounded insulted by the information

"Got a problem with it?" Azuma asked, a tone of warning filling his voice

"Nope," Sakura smiled as Ino slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth, preventing him from saying anything, "Somehow I'm not surprised."

"Ah, now that I think about it," Shikamaru spoke up, "His last name is Sarutobi too."

"Very good you two," Hiruzen smiled and crouched in front of them, a smile at Ino had her releasing Naruto, "now I have a question for you all."

"What is it lord Hokage?" the children asked as they crowed around him with curious looks

"Can I open my presents now?" Hiruzen asked, the children all shared curious looks before turning to look at Ino and Sakura expectantly

"Okay," Sakura smiled

"Ah, but you have to save ours for last," Ino added quickly, smile brightening as Hiruzen dropped his head in disappointment.

"You have to see everyone else's presents first, lord Hokage," Hinata smiled, "or else you won't see how much work everyone put in to make them."

"Oi, not all of us made ours," Cobra drawled

"That's cause you're cheap!" Naruto shot back

"That was mean Naruto-san," Sakura huffed at him, only for her eyes to land on the clock on the wall behind the blonde. "Ah! Lord Hokage, it's late. I'm sorry but I have to get home before my mother starts to worry."

"It's not a problem Sakura-chan," Hiruzen smiled, "Do be safe."

"Always Lord Hokage," Sakura smiled and hurried away, waving over her shoulder at the others while she was at it

"Bye Sakura-chan," Naruto sighed, looking dejected with her early leaving. Hiruzen chuckled and patted the boy's head affectionately as he rose to his full height and steadily walked towards the gift table. Hawk produced a chair and let him take a seat at the table, Naruto quickly took his place at his right side and Azuma stood on his left, the rest of the children each gathered around to watch Hiruzen's face as he opened the presents and admired each one of them. He didn't notice how Ino skittered out of view and ducked behind the large curtain to check on their present, she was there for a little while before she let out a startled shout. The other children were instantly there by her side, Naruto, Kiba, Chōji and Shino bared Hiruzen's path as Hinata and Shikamaru both dived behind the curtain for Ino.

"Lord Hokage we've got trouble!" Ino said as she fought her way out from behind the curtain, "One of the clan compounds is evacuating!"

"Sorry to ruin the surprise!" Hinata shouted as they jerked on the curtain and tore it down from the ceiling, revealing their present. Naruto and the boys each hurried over and pulled themselves up onto their tippy-toes to see the problem. Near the center of the little earthen village, a large empty square was filled with little gray lights, some blinked out and some scattered out of the towards the edges of the squares, towards the center of the square a bright red dot moved here and there through the square, blinking out only to blink into life a little further away.

"Hay, which compound is that?" Naruto asked, looking at Shikamaru

"I think that's the Uchiha one," he answered with a slight frown, "What are with all the dots Naruto? You didn't say anything about that…" the children didn't see Hiruzen give a silent command to the Anbu in the room nor did they notice said team disappear.

"Oh yeah, the dots are a symbol of the people," Naruto answered, "I used gray dots for the police force because that's like their favorite color. Yellow dots are the civilians, those who's chakra signatures are below a certain point, green is for genins, their chakra signatures are slightly different from a civilians, blue is for chunins and orange for Jonins."

"And what is that red dot for?" Hiruzen asked curiously, feeling as if there was a block of ice settling in his stomach

"Oh, that was Cobra's idea," Naruto smiled at Hiruzen, "he wondered how we would be able to tell the difference between allies and enemies so I made a second seal that's a part of the main seal on the bed rock of this village." Naruto answered as he pointed down at the little earth village, "of course I had to clear everything away to do it but I was able to fix my mistake!"

"Huh? When did you do that?" Shikamaru asked curiously, "I didn't notice a difference with the village…"

"Of course not," Naruto pouted, "once I fixed the seal I re-erected the buildings with the seals I gave you guys to use for them."

"You re-built the stone village by yourself?" Ino asked incredulous, "I thought only those with earth chakra could use the seals?"

"That's kind of true," Naruto mumbled, "but I created the seals so clearly they'd do what I want. Plus I'm not the only one who had advantage over it either, you do to."

"Huh?" Ino stared blankly at Naruto, not understanding what he said

"Remember Ino? I couldn't figure out how to make the seals sense people's emotions," Naruto huffed at her, "Remember? You offered up your blood as ink for the seals to see if that would work."

"Wait, that worked?" Ino asked in surprise

"Uh-huh, that's why you knew something was wrong," Naruto bobbed his head

"Oh I get it," Shikamaru smiled at Naruto. "Since all the seals around the village respond to this one and since this seal is made with Ino's blood, she automatically knew what was going on around the village. That's why she knew something was wrong with that compound."

"Yeah, neat side-effect right?" Naruto smiled brightly

"Don't talk about me like I'm a disease!" Ino barked with a glare

"Naw, more like a poison," Naruto grinned only to yelp as the girl lunged for him

_These children_, Hiruzen thought, staring wide eyed at the fighting blondes and their giggling friends, _they will be truly terrifying when they grow up…_ he can only pray they remain loyal to the village and not tempted by darkness. His eyes traveled to large map, taking in the beautiful details of the trees and buildings, as if he were standing in the clouds looking down on his village. The only key to it being a map was the fact that all the buildings and trees were transparent, meaning the person watching over the little village could use it to detect enemy forces and guild their shinobi to those exact locations. Even noticed that there was another effect the map had that wasn't present before, it appeared that those in the academy class were given a light green color and those in the advanced course were given a bright sky blue color, differentiating them from the darker blue of the chunins. In fact, he even saw a few little black dots in the shinobi retirement sector, as if the retired shinobi were represented as black dots.

Hiruzen smiled warmly at the group of children

"This is a wonderful present," Hiruzen told them, drawing their attention, "I could never ask for anything more from you."

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 13**


	15. Chapter 15

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 15: year 4 part 2

Koomahana

**Sorry you guys, I wanted to update last week but it wasn't done in time**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester two_

_Year 4:_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Ami Nanami_

_Shino Aburame_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Riko Yamauchi_

Ami growled lowly, her crush worked double time over the winter break and now he sat in second place and still, STILL, Sakura remained as number three. Even Shino dropped to sixth place and Hinata rose to fourth again. Every semester their numbers were essentially the same, moving only a step forward or a step back word but this year Shino got debunked down to sixth and Sasuke took his previous place. Were those three 'aces' even trying anymore? Did Shino give up the fight for his place as second in command? He should've fallen back to fourth not sixth, but Hinata was studying hard too, and so far she kept her promise of keeping Ami away from Sakura in their scores.

_With all the drama over the break, I figured he'd drop in the ranks not excel!_ Ami thought with a snarl turning on her heal and walking away. She heard about the 'Uchiha Massacre', there were few survivors. Their three hundred clan members dropped down to roughly a hundred members. If Ami recalled right, most of the survivors were still young, the oldest barely even twenty, and their youngest was four-ish. She also knew that instead of taking on the clan traitor head on and all alone, the majority of the Uchiha children scattered out of the compound, most carrying their younger generation and leaving all of their elders to deal with the traitor. She also heard that Itachi was too wounded that night to completely kill off everyone. His mission of tracking down and killing an S-class serial killer had taken its toll and his sanity snapped. Supposedly some of his family medics believed that he snapped because of the pressure of clan politics and some kind of infection reaching his brain or something like that.

_This isn't right,_ Ami thought with a low growl, marching out of the crowd only to stop as she saw one young Uchiha girl standing at the academy gates with the Hokage, staring down with bright red eyes at a little blood stained headband that the Hokage was holding out to her.

"Congratulations Ameko Uchiha, you've graduated the academy and became a fully fledge shinobi of this village," Hiruzen said softly, regret and sorrow lacing his voice, "I wish it was under better circumstances child…"

"I do to lord Hokage," Ameko whispered, taking the bloodied head band with shaking fingers, "Is it alright if I wear my father's headband?"

"Yes child," Hiruzen sighed, "You'll be given your teammates soon… innless you want to take an apprenticeship and wait for your fellow classmates to graduate themselves." Ami flinched at the implication and quickly spun on her heal, the soft 'that sounds nice' ringing in the back of her mind like the echo of a cannon.

_The sharingan!_ Ami thought with a low growl as she marched into the academy, _he woke up the sharingan! It's the only way he flat out beat Sakura!_ How pathetic that he had to activate his blood line to beat the bubbly girl, all that told her was that without the same or similar eye technique she'd never best the pinket. That information only made Ami madder and even more determined to continue her lessons with Danzo so she could get better then Sakura Haruno.

_I will not lose!_

…

* * *

…

Sakura laughed as she ran from her friends, easily she spun to the side, missing Naruto's clasping hand by a hair's width. He shouted in dismay and turned to follow her but Sakura was already spinning out of his reach, leaving Ino closest to his person. The blonde in question yelped with realization and took off in a dead sprint with Naruto close on her heals. Ino spotted an out crop of trees and smirked, she quickly jumped up one and agile missed Naruto's wide swipe, she ended up screaming shrilly as she slipped and sent herself sliding down the wet moss covered tree trunk nearby. She landed on the ground with a stupid-a-fied look, she turned wide blue eyes onto Shikamaru and Chōji as they hurried towards her, and just as Naruto got close enough to touch her, Ino jumped up and ran. Leaving her two friends behind as distractions to Naruto, of course they chased after her, trying to avoid Naruto's hands while they waved angry fists at her for betraying them to the blonde.

"Oh come on you guys!" Naruto whined, "at least let me tag one of you!"

"No way!" Ino laughed using a rock to propel herself towards a tree before disappearing behind a bush just before she took off again

"That's not how tag works Naruto!" Chōji laughed, barely managing to escape said blonde's hand, "you have to tag _someone_!" Naruto grumbled to himself as he looked for someone not running from him.

His eyes landed on Hinata

Hinata blinked and Naruto grind

Hinata squeak just before taking off in a random direction, Naruto was hot on her heels. Ino grinned as she quickly ushered her friends back over to follow the blonde boy and his chosen target. They followed him back to the main park were they started, and watched in amusement as Hinata elegantly dodged his every leap, right on up until she spun out of his way and accidently let him fly down the steps to collide with a passing kid.

"Ow!" Naruto groaned as he pushed himself off the ground and rubbed at his stinging nose.

"Watch it loser," Naruto looked up at the speaker and found himself staring up at a dark haired boy with pale skin and red rimmed dark eyes.

"Sorry your highness," Naruto shot back automatically, "I didn't see you." Sakura sighed, Ino smacked a hand to her face and Hinata watched on worriedly. The boy starred at Naruto dully for a moment before huffing and turning away from, intending to continue on his way.

"Ah!" Naruto shouted and jumped to his feet, the boy froze as Naruto slapped a hand against his shoulder

"Tag you're it!" Naruto laughed as he started back up the stairs, looking back halfway Naruto smirked at the. "What's the matter?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smirk, "is his highness too stuck up to train with us?"

"You're not training," the boy drawled coldly, "you're playing a stupid kids game."

"Technically we're training in endurance, speed, flexibility, and strategy building," Sakura corrected with a smile, "Plus our muscles are steadily increasing too!"

"In case you didn't notice dude, we're all kids here," Shikamaru drawled unimpressed with the cold attitude.

"Come on guys," Naruto gave the boy a superior smirk, "he's too _scared_ to play with us."

"How do you figure?" Chōji asked curiously

"Do you see the way his hair looks?" Naruto asked, blue eyes dancing, "it looks like a chicken butt!" The boy turned towards them and the girls took off, his glare was enough warning for them. Naruto wasn't that bright, even Chōji, Shikamaru and Kiba started to back away when the boy started towards them, they flat out started running when he started running up the stairs.

"Ha! So you do have ears!" Naruto laughed as he quickly dodged the boy's lunge, "I was beginning to wonder with your feather-like hair sticking up everywhere!" Shikamaru groaned and quickly tugged Chōji into the nearest bush as the two boys went running past, the dark haired boy got dangerously close to tagging Naruto a few times but the blonde somehow managed to escape him every time.

"Oi! New rule!" Sakura laughed as she flipped around stand on the underside of a tree, everyone but Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at her, "you can use chakra to run but you can't use it to stay in place, you have to keep moving!"

"That's not fair Sakura!" Ino whined as she dived out of the two running boys, "You and Naruto are going to tie!"

"Nope," Sakura smiled at her, "because you can tag anyone so long as you can reach them. The one with least amount of tags wins the game!"

"But that means we'll have to count!" Naruto whined as he dodged a kick to his middle

"You count for a living!" Ino barked, watching the blonde boy jump out of the dark haired boys reach.

"He's all yours Ino!" Naruto laughed as he continued full sprint away. Ino blinked dumbly, not quite understanding what the boy said until the dark haired boy turned towards her, a glint in his dark eyes.

"Oh," Ino's eyes widened and she screamed as she turned and ran, the boy hot on her heels. Ino zig-zagged through the trees before she remembered what Sakura had said, her eyes lit up and she jumped grabbing hold of a low tree branch before she started climbing higher into the tree.

"Oi! What are you doing?!" the boy called as he watched her climb

"It's the new rule we got for you!" Ino giggled as she stopped and looked down at him, her eyes dancing at the distance, "We can use chakra so long as we keep moving! Oh yeah, you might not know about this other rule: we have to stay within the boundaries of the park, leave it and you get tied up and dressed up like a girl!" As she predicted the boy gave her withering glare and started climbing up the tree himself, glad he had checked out her climbing ability with his Sharingan before doing so. He had been absent from the academy for the past week and he wasn't surprised that he missed some lessons but that didn't mean he wasn't annoyed by it.

"That's it," Ino encouraged, he glared up at her as he pulled himself up onto the branch, he was beginning to wonder if she was worth the trouble. "You're getting better already!" Ino smiled at him, when he looked back up at her, he saw she wasn't out of breath like him, she wasn't sweating like him, and she wasn't even scared of heights like most girls. She made it look easy as she climbed the tree with the light chakra coating her palms and sols of her feet, yet he refused to look down even though he was on the lowest branch.

"Ino!" he swung himself up to sit on the branch, he whipped at his brow and looked back up at the blonde girl he was chasing. "Are you alright?" beside the blonde was that pink haired girl he saw earlier, she was crouching beside the blonde who suddenly didn't look so cheerful. The girl had the afternoon sunlight streaming through the branches behind her, making her green eyes appear almost clear-blue and her hair glowed like fire. Ino murmured a little before she rose to her feet and jumped out of the tree, she sailed just out of Sasuke's reach and was caught by that annoying blonde boy who appeared and disappeared just as quickly as Ino jumped.

"Hay boy!" he blinked and turned to look up at the pinket, she was sitting half way up the tree, a smile on her heart-shaped face. "How about you try to tag me now?" there was a challenge in her voice, he could hear it, "By the way, what's your name?" he stilled, his hand resting limply against the trunk of the tree, his dark eyes wide as he stared up at her. For the past few weeks he's only received pitying looks from everyone in the village and when he returned to the compound he was surrounded by wails of despair and murmurs of sorrow. Everyone knew who he was but not this little pink haired girl, he knew who she was, he'd seen her plenty of times at their academy but he didn't know she didn't who he was. Didn't everyone hear the news? How was she number three if she's that oblivious?

"S…Sasuke," he answered slowly, "My name is Sasuke…" he was tempted to say his last name but he got the feeling she wouldn't care for that part so he stopped and stared up at her curiously.

"My name is Sakura!" she smiled at him, as brightly as sunlight, "It's a pleasure to meet you!" Sakura jumped up to her feet and examined her surroundings, "Alright, let's get on with the game!" She fist pumped the air, her voice echoing through the trees, it was soon joined by loud joyous shouts and what sounded like a couple of howls from a dog further in the trees.

"You ready Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked looking back down at him, "oh! I'm sorry, I'm supposed to say 'san' until you're more comfortable with me calling you by name right? Sorry about that!"

"Whatever," Sasuke grumbled reaching for the next branch, "how do you get so high?"

"Hm? Oh we learned how to climb trees without our hands a few days ago," Sakura answered, "Hotaru-sensei said it was okay for us to learn it because we aced all of our chakra control exercises and were starting to get bored." She giggled just as he was able to swing his leg over the branch, "I think he just wanted to make sure Naruto-kun wouldn't build another trap for him to step into!"

"That idiot builds traps?" Sasuke huffed as he reached out to the trunk, suddenly there was a rustling overhead and he looked to his left just in time to watch Sakura sail past in slow motion. Her pink hair looked like strands of silk as it curled through the air, her green eyes where half lidded and her arms were held out over her head, leaving her navy blue shirt to puff up with the wind as she fell. Sasuke reached out to grab her, hoping he'd be fast enough to catch her before she fell to her death but her hair slipped past his fingers, leaving them stinging. Suddenly, Sakura's feet connected with the trunk and she spun gracefully down its length until she stopped, standing on it as if she were standing on the ground. Sasuke found himself staring wide-eyed into her half lidded, unimpressed green orbs, as if she were a blank slate or a puppet waiting for its strings to get pulled.

"I don't approve of anyone insulting my friends," Sakura said calmly, "Naruto may not get common sense right away but he's a far cry from an idiot."

…

"_What are you looking at?" he sounded so angry yet she swore she could hear a fearful tilt to his voice_

"_Why are you orange?" she asked, tilting her head to the side_

"_I set__ off my trap by accident," he answered hesitantly_

"_A trap?" she repeated, "you can build traps? Aren't those supposed to be really hard?"_

"_Not for me," he answered throwing his hands behind his head, "I like building them."_

"_Really?" she giggled, "Do you like orange that much too?"_

"_Yeah, you got a problem with it?" he asked, sounding as if he'd get in a fight with her over it_

"_Nope," she smiled, "you look good in orange!"_

"_Oh yeah?" he asked, a small smile on his pinking cheeks, "Well you'd look good in red. It would match your pretty hair."_

…

"So if you're going to insult my friend," Sakura glared up at Sasuke, unwavering and unafraid of the consequences, "you can leave now and don't worry about coming back." She slid the rest of the way down the trunk and landed on the ground, turning she took off in a random direction and out of Sasuke's sight.

She never once looked back

She left him hanging in a tree he didn't know how to get back down out of

…

* * *

…

Sasuke sighed as he opened his new home's door and walked in, he sat on the bench and removed his shoes before he walked further into the house. At the kitchen table sat his cousin, Ameko, she was sleeping soundly with the table set before her, the food covered to keep it warm. Her long onyx hair had a faint purple tint to it like most members of his clan, she even looked a lot like his mom when he saw her waiting up for his brother to come home. Sasuke sighed and glanced at the nearest clock, it read ten o'clock and it made Sasuke flinch a little in realization. He had been out by far latter then he thought, climbing down the tree was a whole lot harder when he didn't have anyone willing to help him. Sighing, Sasuke grabbed a blanket from the hall closest and carefully covered his cousin. He stilled as he saw the bloody and worn head band peeking out of Ameko's kimono top. He knew she graduated early, but he thought she was taking an apprenticeship at the hospital, why did she have that torn up head-the answer hit him suddenly and Sasuke felt like slapping himself. Ameko's dad was a shinobi and her mother was a nurse at the Uchiha clinic.

The head band had to have belonged to her dad

Sasuke sighed and carefully uncovered the food, he just as carefully filled a plat and set in front of his cousin. He then filled his own plat and sat across from her, just as Sasuke moved to sit, Ameko straightened in her with a gasp. Her movement was so fast and unexpected that Sasuke nearly dropped his plate of food.

"S-Sasuke-sama?" Ameko stuttered as she straightened in her seat and rubbed sleepily at her eyes.

"Ah, Ame—" Sasuke was interrupted as the slightly older girl jumped forward and wrapped trembling arms around his neck, sending his plat clattering to the table top.

"I-I-I w-wa-was s-so scared!" Ameko stuttered out, sobbing softly against Sasuke's neck. Ameko was four years older than him and as far as he knew she had a big crush on his brother. He knew no one else in the clan was as betrayed as him, Ameko was a close second. But unlike him, she was working on forgiving Itachi. Sasuke sighed heavily and calmly wrapped his arms around his cousin, the only one in the clan still willing to be within reaching distance. Sasuke couldn't blame his other relatives, they were scared that since he used to worship the ground Itachi walked, he might want to follow in his big brother's footsteps and finish the rest of them off. Ameko was the only one to see him differently, that's why she moved into this big house with him. She was scared to be alone in this time of sorrow and because of her love for Itachi, no one else in the clan was willing to take her in. Not even her big brother or her uncle.

In that since, they were the same

The remaining members of their clan were too afraid of what they might do, so they excluded them from everything. They wouldn't even be able to witness the birth of a new generation, because of the fear their family held for them. And the new-temporary-head of the clan was a cowered who ran away the second he realized that it was Itachi who was attacking them. He is the eldest in the clan now, so he is making all of the choices and demands that the clan will have to follow until Sasuke is old enough to take the reins from him. And Sasuke bet that he would have to fight the man for the title of clan head and chief of the police. If Sasuke wanted something, then from now on he would have to get it from outside of the clan walls or ask the man for permission.

"Hay Ameko-nee," Sasuke called softly, silently noticing how the sobbing turned into broken sniffles and hick-ups, "I missed a lesson at school…"

…

* * *

…

Sakura smiled as she listened to Naruto's plan for his grandfather's next birthday. This one sounded a whole lot easier than mapping out the entire village with carefully placed transferable seals. She put in a few suggestions that would make the process easier and explained a few concerns she had but other that it was as if her friend never realized just how dark it got.

"Hay, Naruto-kun," Sakura smiled at him, interrupting his chatter about the present. "Where do you live?" Naruto blinked at her, his cheeks pinking a little at the question.

"Wh-wha-why are y-you asking me that?" Naruto asked

"Because you know where me and everyone else lives but none of us know where you live." Sakura answered, "I'm curious!"

"Ah but Sakura-chan," Naruto started slowly, "your parents…"

"I told them I'm spending the night with Ino," Sakura smiled at him, "so? Show me where you live." Naruto blushed three shades of red, he wasn't sure to be horrified that she lied so she could spend the night with him or glad that she cared that much for him. Eventually he carefully took Sakura down the brightly lit main streets instead of the darker and quicker routes. After fifteen minutes of compatible silence, with small talk here and there, they finally reached Naruto's home. Observing it closely, Sakura turned to Naruto with a warm smile.

"Which floor do you live in?"

"Th-the t-top," Naruto answered, face beginning to glow in half light of the street.

"Then I have the perfect plan," Sakura's smile brightened, "lets practice our chakra control by walking up the side of the building to your floor!"

"Good idea Sakura-Chan!" Naruto's grin was infectious and Sakura laughed as they ran full tilt to the nearest wall. Sakura took five steps up the wall before she heard a loud shout, quickly followed by a dull thump and groan. She turned in her spot and starred curiously down at a sprawled out form of Naruto laying spread eagle on the ground.

"What's all that noise?!" Sakura gasped as the window beside her was slammed open and a terrifying green face popped out. Sakura gave a started shout before falling to the ground, landing atop Naruto. "Were you two children practicing wall walking?" The woman ask with a disapproving look at Sakura, as she was the only one who wasn't knocked out.

"I-I'm s-sorry ma'am!" Sakura stuttered out wide eyed as she scrambled off Naruto. "W-we didn't mean t-to wake y-you!"

"You should be more careful girl," the woman huffed, she stiffened as she saw gray and red arm band safety-pinned to Sakura's right arm sleeve. "You're in the advanced class?" The woman questioned in surprise, her eyes narrowed as she saw a matching badge on Naruto's left arm. "Tell me girl, is that there boy in the same class as you?"

"Yes ma'am," Sakura answered with a slight frown, "Naruto-kun is in many of my classes." The woman hummed at her for a moment before she nodded courtly.

"Stay there girl, I'll be right out," the woman ordered, disappearing before Sakura could respond. Sakura blinked dumbly at the window, she sighed and kneeled beside her friend. Barely a moment later, the woman was walking out of her front door and marching towards Sakura dressed in a light pink rob, her face still covered in the green goo and her light brown hair pulled up into twenty curlers. The woman stopped and with a gentiles Sakura had never seen any civilians use towards the boy, the woman lifted Naruto into her arms and stood to her full height, her brown eyes warming as she stared down into his sleeping face.

"Come a long girl," the woman grumbled as she saw Sakura still staring wide eyed at her, "We don't have much time before someone else sees." Sakura gasped and jumped to her feet, hurrying after the middle aged woman as she hurried into the hall that concealed the long spiraling stairs that led to the top. Sakura was quiet as she climbed the stairs, slipping on her third step up and slamming down hard on her knee as a result. She hissed but was quick to jump back onto her feet when the woman turned to look back at her curiously; they both traveled one set of stairs before the woman broke the silence.

"You have questions girl," the woman spoke softly, "Why don't you speak them?"

"I..." Sakura hesitated, "Why are you so nice to him?" the woman stopped on the next landing and stared down at her with a raised eyebrow, "I mean… I've never seen a civilian be nice to Naruto, they usually kick him when he's down and most shinobi don't pay him any mind…" the woman stared down at Sakura with narrowed brown eyes before she shifted her hold on Naruto and cradled him like a mother would cradle her child.

"I knew his mother," the woman answered, brown eyes filling with tears that stubbornly refused to fall, "That is why I let him live here without worry of rent. The apartment was his mother's… she was such a sweet girl…" the woman turned away from Sakura and started up the next flight of stairs. Sakura hesitated before she hurried after the woman again, this time watching where she stepped.

"Do you miss her?" Sakura asked softly, the woman hesitated before she answered just as softly

"Yes," she adjusted her hold again on Naruto, placing his head on her shoulder and letting his arms wrapped around her neck as she carried all of his weight in her arms. "She was supposed to inherit this building but…"

"…does he know you know about her?" Sakura asked, when she heard Naruto was an orphan she asked her parents just what an 'orphan' was and they looked completely miserable as they explained to her what one was. They also explained to her what a 'widow' was and she asked them why there wasn't a word used to call a parent who has lost a child. They said that misery was too much to be expressed in one word alone, so no one bothered to make one up for those poor individuals.

"No," the woman sighed, closing her eyes in defeat, "She died when he was born. So he has no memory of his mother and his father died protecting the village from the Kiyobi, so he was technically born an orphan."

"Oh," Sakura whispered following the woman down a dark hall, eyes misting over. She couldn't imagine life without her parents, she knew she wouldn't be the girl she was without them; so she wondered what kind of boy Naruto would be if he knew his parents.

"You know something girl," the woman stopped and looked down at Sakura with a fond but sad smile, "If your hair was bright red and your eyes were deep amethyst, you could pass as the spitting image of his mother." Sakura blushed brightly at the compliment, "and this poor boy inherited her bad temper with his father's looks too boot," the woman chuckled in amusement, "at least I'll know he won't have a problem looking for a girl when he's older. Less hassle for me to deal with…" by now, Sakura's face was glowing and the woman was smiling fondly as they resumed their walk down the hall.

Neither one of them saw the pair of brown eyes duck back out of sight

…

Naruto scrunched his face as he slowly came too, his head felt like a drum and his body felt like it was laced in cement. He took in a deep breath and flinched back at the smell of rotten greens, he pried his eyes open and imminently tried to jump back words. In front of him was a green face of what appeared to be a goblin, he screamed and the face growled at him. The face pulled back to show the relatively familiar looking light pink robe his land lord sometimes wore, her long brown hair was pulled up into her usual curlers and her face was covered in an unnatural green goo.

"What a rude boy," the woman snarled at him, brown eyes sharp like needles, "and here I led your nice friend all the way up here to get rid of you from my window seal." Naruto blinked teary blue eyes at her and slowly turned to look fearfully at Sakura, who was giving him a pitying look. Making a confused sound, Naruto quickly took in his dark surroundings, double checking the numbers on the doors close to him before looking up at the door he was leaned against.

"Uh-um… th-tha—"

"The next time you fall on my flower's I'll tan your hide!" the woman huffed as she angrily marched down the hall, Naruto felt like crying at the threat because he knew the woman was fully cable of it. Sakura watched Naruto slowly pull himself out of his petrified state and slowly turn himself back to her, eyes wide and teary.

"Shall we go in now?" Sakura asked with a smile, Naruto sniffed and blinked up at her before remembering what happened before he fell and knocked himself out.

"Yeah!" Naruto's smile was bright and he jumped up to his feet excitedly, he pulled out his keys from his pocket and quickly unlocked his door. "Come on in Sakura-chan!" Naruto laughed as he walked in ahead of her, "I'll be a minute to clean up bu—"

"SURPRISE!" Naruto nearly shrieked himself when he turned on the lights and a bunch of people jumped up and shouted joyfully at him. In his small flat with his one bed pushed against the far wall and the kitchen on the opposite side, stood his gathered friends, their parents, and Hiruzen. He blinked at the large crowed, staring at the decorated room and the pretty table stationed in the room that held a lot of presents and a smaller table that had a large white rimmed cake.

"Happy Birthday Naruto!" Sakura and Ino giggled together as they tackled him in a group hug, their other friends soon dog pilling on top of them. Naruto laughed as his friends each gave him their presents, he even met each of their parents (including Sakura's mother and father), and hugged Hiruzen with bright blue tears in his eyes. His friend's parents were smiling as if nothing was wrong in the world, like he was no different their kids. He was afraid of their rejection for nothing. Sakura's dad even made a few lame jokes that got Naruto laughing, which made everyone else laugh as well.

"Oh man I can't belief you forgot what day it is," Kiba grinned at him, "you should've seen your face!" Naruto ignored the comment and smiled up at Hiruzen, his smile blinding and infectious. It wasn't every day that he got spend a few hours with his grandfather-figure, he usually got a few minutes every week provided he's been good and didn't get into any trouble.

"Ha-happy b-birthday N-N-Naruto-k-kun," Hinata stuttered with a bright blush, her hands pushed out in front of her towards him, holding a little white box barely even palm sized.

"Thanks Hinata-chan!" Naruto Said as he wrapped his arms around her, spinning her in place. "AH!" Naruto shouted as the girl feinted in his arms, "I'm sorry Hinata-chan! Please wake up!" Naruto turned teary-terrified eyes onto his pink haired friend, "Sakura-chan! Help!"

"Relax Naruto she just feinted," Sakura smiled, "you know she gets dizzy easily."

_Especially when your involved,_ Kiba thought with a sweat drop

"ACK!" Naruto very carefully handed the red faced girl over to her guardian who carefully placed Hanabi on the floor before lifting Hinata into his arms, "Will she be okay?!"

"She'll be fine," Kien chuckled, "give her a few minutes to recuperate and she'll be as light as rain." Hanabi clutched Kien's robes and followed him to the bed where he sat down and held Hinata in his lap, Naruto felt bad when the little three year old gave him a withering glare. After everything was said and done, Naruto was sat at the table and the cake was brought over and set in front of him. The top of the cake was decorated with the faces of the Hokage monument with the addition of Naruto's smiling face at the far end, next to the fourth's face.

At the bottom of the cake, just below the faces it said 'they never gave up'

"Someday son, you'll be Hokage too," Hiruzen smiled at Naruto, "I know it in my heart."

…

* * *

…

**Those last few sentences made me want to cry **

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	16. Chapter 16

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 16: Year 5

Koomahana

**Brunet—brown hair**

**Blonde—yellow hair**

**Scarlet—red head**

**Pinket—pink hair**

**Violete—purple hair**

**Oranget—orange hair**

**Bluet—blue hair**

**Oh yeah, I might not have said so earlier but I designed the Advanced Course's bandage on Word Document. I'll save the image to Paint and then upload it to Fanfiction so that I can then use as the image for the story, that should be helpful for you to visualize it **

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

…_Paragraphs are flashbacks…_

"**Possession"** (Jashin)

…

* * *

…

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester one_

_Year 5:_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Shino Aburame_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Ami Nanami_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Riko Yamauchi_

"I did it mom, dad," he whispered staring at the tombstones, "I'm sorry it took me so long but I'm at the top of the Advanced Class." He stood patiently in front of two tall stones, both reading familiar names, "I did it…"

…

"_Did you get into the advanced class?" his father asked as he sipped on his tea_

"_No father," he replied with a sigh, "oh!" he turned and addressed his father with wide eyes, he sat a little straighter in his seat, "There'll be another test in two months! I'll pass it then!"_

"_Don't push yourself too hard Sasuke-kun," his mother said as she set a plate of food in front of him, "I've read up on the rules of the Advanced class. If you pass the next test you'll have to continue passing each test or you'll end up out of the advanced class. I don't want you to get hurt trying to do something that would be difficult even for your big brother."_

"_Hay, I can make it," Sasuke pouted at his mother, "I'll pass and I'll remain in the class too!"_

"_Do as you're told Sasuke," His father said calmly. Sasuke would later realize that his father was agreeing with his mother, neither one of them wanted him to get hurt but they didn't say they didn't want him in the advanced class._

_They just wanted him safe_

…

Just after his eighth birthday, his brother had done something unexpected. His elder brother killed their parents… for the sake of 'power'. That night on his way home from school, Sasuke saw his elder brother slide through three of their relatives and skidded to a stop directly in front of him. Sasuke stared at his big brother, silently staring at the blood covering him and the brightly shining crimson sword in his hand. Several of his relatives acted, one grabbing him and running away while several others engaged his brother in a fight. He later learned that his brother killed nearly half of their clan before he escaped into the darkness of the night, leaving him behind without any words… but a single note sitting on his desk. His clan may have been reduced to a handful but his family was still going strong, they were closer than ever before and those who never had the sharingan, now did.

Himself included

He didn't tell anyone, he didn't want their sympathy or empty words, it was a secret he would continue to keep. Because the curse of the Sharingan was one he was going to die with, taking his brother with him if he was able to. Everyone in the world may have known about the 'Uchiha Massacre' and that there were few survivors, but few realized just how many survivors received their sharingan as a result. Their bloodline become strong as a result, more of them became shinobi and their police force seemed to have taken a boost of new recruits; both from the clan and from several Jonin's recommended by the Hokage.

"I'll prove that I'm as good if not better than Itachi," he swore to the silent tombstones, "and when I'm old enough… I'll become clan head. So don't worry about the others too much, okay dad, mom? I'm taking special classes that'll help me take care of them…" _Our family isn't lost yet_

"Sasuke-sama," he glanced back at the young woman standing behind him, she was dressed in one of his mother's old blue dresses with the white apron tied around her waist and her long midnight purple hair was pulled back into a high pony-tail, leaving her porcelain white skin to be marred by a single feint scar that spanned the length of her eyebrow up to her hairline. "You're going to be late for the test," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper, the damage of their clan having made her cry until her voice refused to work as it once did, "You should hurry to the training grounds now."

"…Thank you Ameko-nee," Sasuke said turning away from the tombstones, refusing to look at the girl who looked so much like his mother. "I'll be back for dinner," He could never let her worry again, he had to tell her he'd return, he didn't want her scared again. Not when she became his rock and he became her home, they were all the other had; betraying the other wasn't an option.

"Be safe," Ameko replied calmly, watching the boy walk away before she turned her attention back onto the once leaders of her clan. "Aunt Mikoto… I don't know if you can but can you watch out for Sasuke? I think he might be a little bit reckless today." A warm breeze surrounded her and for a brief moment, the teen felt as if she could feel her aunt's arms wrap around her one last time. It was all she needed to know that her cousin would be safe and that he would return mostly unharmed.

The clan can't afford his loss, he was all they had left

…

* * *

…

Somewhere dark and damp, coal black eyes opened and a low empty growl echoed in the near blackness of the damp forest. The figure rose to its feet elegantly, ignoring the sick crackling of dried blood cracking and flacking off its figure, filtering to the ground like dust. Another bloody figure on the ground coughed wetly, weak trembling arms tried to push itself up and the dark-figure glanced at him with silver flashing eyes. The wounded figure coughed and collapsed as the dark-figure plunged the pointed tip of a staff through its chest, piercing its lung.

"The time is up," a woman's voice sounded, "the target is located. Destination is approximately one-hundred miles south west, center of known hidden village. Estimated time of arrival is two hours."

"You… you won't win," the bloody-figure gasped weekly, blood dripping past its porcelain mask

"No one will win," the blackened figure responded coldly, "because**no one will survive**"

_I… I have to tell them,_ in the branches high overhead he could see a hawk watching him disinterestedly, _I have to warn them…_ He formed a hand sign over himself, sending the very last of his power through the air and into the bird. He doubted he'd make it back to the village in time but he could at least try to warn them of the danger.

_I have to tell them…_

…

* * *

…

Hotaru stretched in his seat, smiling to himself as he felt his back pop loudly, earning disgusted grumbles from a few of his studying students. At the end of his second semester he was able to turn his nine fourth years into one, it wasn't easy eliminating them from his class and there were a couple of tests that the remaining three had passed with A's, forcing him to make the tests a little more complicated than he properly should have. His third years were just as troublesome, they were all bound and determined to stick together until their final year. He had been able to eliminate them soon enough, although it did give him a headache when he realized that the rest of his students were just getting smarter and smarter with each quarter that assaulted them. Thankfully his second and first years didn't throw too much of a fuss when one or two of them left his class, well, they didn't in his first year. Now he was half way through his fifth year of teaching the advanced class and he was beginning to think that the children were purposefully studying together just to annoy him. Although he was impressed with his former students, Ameko Uchiha was his first forth year and graduated at the top of his class, she was also the pride of her clan. She graduated when she was eleven because of her skill during the massacre; she took on an apprenticeship at the hospital until she was thirteen when she was given her very first genin team. Later that same year she made chunin and at fourteen she was already a Jonin and there was talk of her joining the Anbu ranks soon. Akane Nohara was another of his previous students; she was already testing for her Jonin rank, she specialized in healing but her traps could be terrifying if you weren't expecting them. This year he had to decrease his three remaining newly minted sixth year students (Chohime Nara, Neji Hyūga and Haruki Yamanaka), into just two. The three in question were hell bent on being his top student of the year and they were constantly trying to outdo the other. Thankfully though, Neji appeared to be able to best the girl's every time, well almost; there were a few times Chohime had him fugitively eating dirt.

"Hotaru-sensei I'm done!" Hotaru groaned and slammed his forehead onto his desk, it hadn't even been five minutes since he had them start the assignment and already someone finished. He really should've known better, the particular student walking up to him with a spring in her step was the famed Sprite, the little pixy of the village. The girl was only famous because she refused to give up her third rank throughout all of her tests, all of the teachers knew she could be the number one shinobi of the academy, besting even her seniors, but the girl cared little for impressing people and only reserved her third station because the second and first stations belonged to her friends. Well, the first station was taken by the young Uchiha heir and he was currently fighting for that station with the well-known Nara heir; so again, Sakura felt no need in competing for first place.

"Thank you Sakura-san," Hotaru sighed, one hand held out to take the pinket's paper, he could feel the young girl smile at him as she placed the paper in his palm. There were times when he wondered if there was a question that existed in this world that the girl couldn't answer. "Can't you give your old teacher a bit of mercy and pretend that the test was at least slightly difficult for you?" he asked, lifting his head slightly to stare up at the girl who has done nothing more than ace his class throughout the five years of her complete and never faltering attendance.

"Nope," Sakura giggled, earning a few chuckles from the other students remaining in his class

"F***ing show off," another voice snarled, "can't you keep your bloody mouth shut for one minute, forehead girl?"

"Ami Nanami, what did I tell you about that kind of language?" Hotaru asked as he pushed himself into a proper sitting position, turning hard teal eyes onto the purple haired pre-teen. Ami snorted and rolled her eyes, over the course of the five years, the smart mouthed six year old turned into a fowl mouthed pre-teen. Like many girls in her year, Ami grew her hair out until it rested in beautiful sweeps at her hips; thankfully she kept it tied back in a high ponytail. Her outfit turned from the red and pink stripped sleeveless top, purple mini-coat and black leggings into a white Kimono top with its sleeves cut in half, showing a portion of her shoulders, a deep purple Obi with a golden string to keep her kimono in place was tied snuggly around her waist and black knee-lengthen leggings. Thankfully the Kimono top was long enough to dance just past Ami's bottom but it was still too short for Hotaru's liking. Of their remaining classmates, only Sakura, Ami and Shikamaru remained in his class, the other six were slow to drop out but they eventually didn't make the cut.

"Haruno-san, can you help me?" Hotaru turned to look down at one of the fourth years, the little girl was named Moegi and as far as he could tell, the little oranget positively adored Sakura. "I… I'm a little stuck on this problem…"

"I don't mind," Sakura smiled at her, turning to face the younger girl, "Anyone else need help?"

"Yes please!" several other students shouted loudly, each throwing their hands into the air, Moegi pouted at them but followed Sakura into the back where those who needed help were. The few stubborn fourth years remaining, refused to go to the back before giving in and quietly shuffling to the back of the room. Hotaru sighed with a smile, when someone wanted help on something, they went to Sakura not him; it was both aggravating and amusing. He was there to teach them but more often than not it was Sakura who was doing the teaching, she was brilliant at it, being a teacher was in her nature.

_I can't belief that five years have passed already,_ Hotaru thought with a smile, watching how some of the older students remaining growled under their breath and worked even harder to get their assignment done. _We're already preparing for the second semester's Advanced Class test…_ that test would determine two of the three remaining students (Shikamaru, Sakura or Ami) return in their next trimester of the Academy. Hotaru prayed it would be Sakura and Shikamaru but he feared that Ami just might be the other finalist in his class. Out of everyone in the Academy, Sakura and Ami were both the best at chakra control and they were only challenged by the Hyūga clan. However, the few Hyūga children in the advanced course cared for the chakra control specialization and they had all chosen another specialization that the advanced class was offering. As far as Hotaru could tell, both girls were too much like Yin and Yang, sometimes it frightened him with how different they were. Sakura was practically the poster child for the perfect Medic and Ami _was_ the poster child for S-class-ninja in the making.

Hotaru also knew Sakura had three elements resounding soundly under her belt and over the years he was able to teach her how to control wind nature to the point that she no longer got sick when she controlled the wind. However, there really wasn't anything he could do about her earth and water natures but he was assured that another instructor took care of that for him. Still, what concerned him the most was that Ami appeared to have the exact opposite natures as Sakura, the perfect ones to counter everything the pinket would throw at her. When they tested Ami's nature they found out that she was strongest in lightning style and she was learning minor fire ninjutsu from someone she refused to talk about. Hotaru knew that Ami planned to get wind under her belt as well (she was already working on it), that way she was the perfect person to counter every attack Sakura might through at her. It would mean that between the two girls, they would specialize in all five types of chakra natures, with their weaknesses being the other's strength.

Sakura had earth, water and wind natures (all natural born talents)

Ami had lightning and she was teaching herself fire

Thank Buda neither girl could combine natures. Hotaru feared the destruction the two girls would create if they learned how to combine natures and went to battle each other; they could destroy the village without hesitation. Well, Sakura would regret it and would try to avoid destroying their surroundings too much, he wasn't entirely sure if Ami would show the same kind of remorse. While Sakura fretted over people's injuries, Ami loved to see people grovel before her. She never held back in her sparing matches and it got to the point that the purple haired beauty queen was permitted to fight only Sakura. Sakura was the only one who could take Ami's hits and not require a visit to the hospital after words. Hotaru gambled it was because Sakura was constantly circulating her chakra to continuously heal her wounds.

"Oi! Hotaru-_sensei!_" he sighed at the blatant show of disrespect, Ami never held much respect for him, "When can I leave huh? I have PE next and it's sparing day!"

"Lower your voice young lady," Hotaru sighed, thanking the next student as he dropped off his assignment, "You haven't turned in your assignment yet."

"Ch," Ami got up and marched forward with her paper in hand. "Here," Ami growled, slamming her paper down on his desk, "Can I leave now? I wanna warm up before I beat Forehead into the ground." Hotaru sighed as he took the paper and started to grade it calmly, he ignored the glare of impatience from Ami and the resentful looks said girl got from the rest of her classmates.

"Nanami-san you've never actually won a match against Sakura-san," Hotaru said as he finished grading her paper and handed it back to her, making a side note in his book, "You both are evenly matched."

"Not for long _sensei_," Ami growled, snatching the paper out of his hand and marching away. She slammed open the door and jerked back at the boy standing on the other side, one hand raised as if he were about to knock on the door. "Move it loser!" Ami snapped, barging past the boy, ignoring the hard shoulder slamming into her own as she pushed past him.

"Rude as usual, I see," Shikamaru commented as he walked into the classroom, "morning Sensei, Sakura-Chan still here?" Shikamaru asked with a lazy wave at his teacher, Hotaru leaned back in his chair and smiled at the young genius.

"Good morning Shikamaru-san," Hotaru greeted, accepting the piece of paper Shikamaru handed him, "Thank you and she's in the back. Why don't you give her a hand?" Shikamaru groaned and turned to look at the pinket surrounded by first and second years, she giggled as one of the children asked a question and she gracefully answered it. Shikamaru smiled and moved towards his friend, watching how she easily navigated between each of their desks, helping each one when they asked for it, giving hints and clues without giving the assignment's answers away. She was really good at teaching children and he honestly wouldn't be surprised if she became an academy instructor when she grew up. Over the course of the past few years, Sakura hadn't changed much since he first saw her, the biggest change being her outfit and hair. Ino had convinced her to grow it out, now it rested nearly at her waist in long elegant pink sweeps, the crimson ribbon Ino gave her years ago still sat on the top her head, keeping her long pink hair out of her eyes. Sakura's long sleeved blue shirt with the three cuts in its sleeves and tan khakis was replaced with a crimson quipao dress that ended just above her knees with slits that reached up to her hips and black mid-thigh shorts. The zipper of the dress hugged her left side and rounded over the space between her shoulder and bust to meet with her high collar, the tip of the zipper was decorated with the simple silver circle of her family.

"Hay Sakura-chan, you ready?" Sakura looked up at the familiar voice and smiled at the sight of her friend

"Shikamaru-san, how are you today?" Sakura asked politely as she sat back in her chair, Moegi pouted at Shikamaru, not happy that he was distracting her ideal. Shikamaru glanced down at the little girl's gray arm band lined in bright, almost blinding, crimson. The four crimson lines slashed through the center told him she was a fourth year and the number in the center of the crest told him that the oranget was the eighth generation of the Advanced Course. If she remained in the Advanced Class through graduation, she would be the fifth successful generation to have gone through the entire course without falling out. His own generation would be the first successful generation to have gone through the course from first year through eighth year; that meant there was a four year difference between them.

"I'm fine," Shikamaru smirked at his friend, returning his attention to his friend, "come on, our next class is about to start."

"Oh? Is it time already?" Sakura asked, turning herself towards him so she could rise to her feet

"Time for what Sakura-sempai?" Moegi asked, drawing the pinket's attention back to herself, Sakura smiled patiently at the girl.

"Don't you know? The Advanced classes get to be tested before everyone else," Sakura answered, "Just us Blue bandages though, sorry little one." Sakura brushed her fingers over the simple gray band resting proudly on her upper left arm. The band had one bright blue stripe on it that was interrupted by the large emblem that all advanced students wore as proof of their rank and skill. The Emblem was a number inside a triangle, inside a square, inside four arrows, inside a decagon, which was surrounded by two large curved lines that were both braced by a single thick bright blue line. The decagon was the symbol of the ten Advanced classes in the Shinobi academy, only the eighth years could participate in all ten Advanced classes. The four directional arrows was the symbol of the four possible directions the advanced students could take: Interrogation, battle front, stealth and medical corps. The square was the four sides of a single cell, the Jonin and three genin. The triangle was the symbol of the three final graduates of the Advanced Class. The number within the triangle was the generation they were. Shikamaru and Sakura both had the numbers five in the center of their triangles, meaning they were the fifth generation of the Advanced Class Participation. The three recognized finalists of the advanced classes would then continue on to wear the badge of the Advanced Class even after graduating the academy. For the advanced class, the badge was just as valuable as the Anbu's tattoo's, it is a symbol of who they are.

"A test?" a boy asked, Shikamaru hummed in agreement and glance down at the brunet in amusement, noticing how his dark eyes were glued to his own badge.

"The Fifth through Seventh years get to take the test that determines whether or not we can be shinobi," Shikamaru said, offering a hand to Sakura, "In other words we get to graduate early if we pass."

"You're going to be a kunochi today?" Moegi asked, staring up at Sakura with wide eyes

"_If_ I pass the test," Sakura agreed, taking Shikamaru's hand and rising to her feet gracefully, "let's go, I don't want to be late."

"If I hadn't come, you would've been," Shikamaru smirked as he led her down the tight rows of desks, "We've got five minutes to get to the training grounds."

"Five minutes?" Sakura gasped, her eyes widening, "Which one?"

"The original one," Shikamaru answered, "Race ya?"

"Loser buys lunch!" Sakura giggled, disappearing in a blur of crimson and pink, for a brief moment, she appeared to be a flower unfolding for the day.

"Oi! No fair!" Shikamaru disappeared as quickly as his summoned shadows, laughter echoing in his voice

"Hotaru-sensei!" Moegi called, jumping to her feet, "I have to go the bathroom!"

"No you don't" Hotaru replied calmly, shifting through his papers, "you just wanna see your ideal become a shinobi."

"Gha!" Moegi took a startled step back, her eyes widening for a moment

"Ha-ha," one of the boys snickered, "you got cau~ght."

"Shut up Konohamaru!" Moegi huffed, "I can go if I really wanted to!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Both of you shut up," Hotaru sighed, unsurprised when the two friends continued arguing loudly, "oi! I said—"

"Sensei I going to see the test!" Moegi shouted as she dived out the nearest window

"OI! Wait up!" Konohamaru shouted diving after the orange haired girl, his friend Udon close behind him

"No!" Hotaru shouted, jumping to his feet, "Damn it! Nii-san watch them!" Hotaru screamed as he dived out the window himself, forgetting that said elder brother was participating in the test. The remaining children stared at the open windows dully for a moment before they all looked at each other.

"So… we going?"

"Yeah!"

…

* * *

…

Ren looked at her clock, worry filling her as she rose from her table and silently entered the back room she and her 'niece' refused to enter for the past five years. Inside the room, the window was blackened with thick boards, the room was plain looking, filled with old boxes, a bloody mattress and a few other things that Ami's father kept for who knows why. Just below the boarded up window sat a large bed covered in a fine layer of dust, the plastic covering on it seemed thin like paper and frail like glass. Ren entered the room, softly closing the door behind her, and carefully picked her way towards the bed. She kneeled beside it and dug under the bed, searching for that small brown box she had hidden away the day she packed everything in the house into this little room. On the surface of the brown box was the white painted symbol of her faith, the rim of the box was scrawled with carefully placed runes, sealing the box. Ren carefully ran her fingers over the surface of the box, remembering when she filled it with everything she had on her person before sealing it shut for all of eternity. In the beginning Ren was proud of what she was, all too happy to teach Ami everything she knew of their kind but somewhere along the way, Ren became less and less enthused. Her pride waned, her bloodless lessoned, her insanity diminished. In the five years she spent in the village of hidden leaves, she felt more pride in Ami's Academy scores then she did in her once god. She felt joy when she was with Kameyama and true bliss when he finally proposed.

Ren had never been happier in her entire life then when she was in this village

She knew she displeased Jashin on a level that was truly unforgivable. She knew she displeased him because she could no longer hear her sister's voice in her mind, like a secondary voice whispering about the sweet scent of plasma or the warm feeling of fresh blood staining her hands. She could no longer sense her sister, her thoughts or her soul, and she knew it was because she fell from Jashin's grace. Her sister's strength might've increased, for her faith would never have waned, and she knew that her own strength had faulted. Ren knew that it wouldn't be long before she would die, she could only pray that she would live long enough to see Ami become a true shinobi.

A shinobi with no connection to Jashin

_I cannot speak to him,_ Ren thought, giving out a deep breath before she turned on her heel and walked right back out of the room. _I cannot ask for forgiveness…_

…

* * *

…

"Damn it Naruto! Get back here!" said blond snickered as he quickly ducked out of sight, performing his signature transformation jutsu while he was at it. He walked out of the other side of the alleyway and continued down the busy street, hands clasped behind him innocently. Automatically his blue eyes looked up at the roofs, a smile stretching on his face as several paint splattered chunin went running past, not even glancing at him.

"Again with the orange paint," a familiar voice drawl, "Your signature hasn't changed."

"Shikamaru! Sakura-chan!" the blonde snapped around and smiled broadly at them, "what are you guys doing out of school?"

"Didn't you hear Naruto-san?" Sakura asked, stopping beside Shikamaru, both hands clasping a book in front of her, "It's the day of the test, are you ready?"

"T-test?" the blonde asked, her blue eyes widening slightly, "Th-that's t-today?!"

"Uh-huh," Sakura nodded, her soft smile widening as she saw something behind the pretty blonde girl. Naruto turn around with a pale face, fearing that one of his targets had found him; thankfully no one was behind him. "Shino-san, how have you been?" Naruto blinked dumbly and turned to look back at Sakura, ready to ask if she hit her head that morning. His question was replaced with a startled shout because of the half hidden face inches away from his own, the unexpected presence in front of her made Naruto lose track of her jutsu and she was enveloped in white smoke.

"You never learn," Shikamaru snickered, watching Shino pull himself away from Naruto and return to Sakura's side, "long time no see Shino, how's your training coming?"

"Ah~ ma~n," Naruto groaned, looking down at his original clothes in disappointment, he was getting better at holding the technique when he was startled but stamina didn't seem to help him when Shino was around.

"It is adequate," Shino answered, turning to nod his head at Sakura, "are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Sakura admitted, her smile softening as a familiar blue bug flew out of Shino's coat and landed on her shoulder, "I'm more worried about what Ami is going to end up doing."

"You don't seriously think she'll do something today of all days, do you?" Shikamaru asked as he started walking again, Sakura and Shino were quick to follow him, Naruto taking up the rear without thinking twice about it.

"She was relaxed today," Sakura answered, her hands tightening on the book in her hands, "and she wasn't as vulgar as she usually is…"

"That can't be good," Shino said softly, "Why? Because Ami gets quiet when she plans"

"So you think she'll do something reckless today?" Naruto asked, "But its test day. If she displeases even one proctor, she won't graduate this year, she'll be held back." Sakura hummed in agreement, her eyes narrowing slightly as she spotted something purple and white off in the distance. Shikamaru and Shino shared a look as they walked and together they stepped just that little bit closer to Sakura, not trusting the powerful kunochi-to-be. Naruto watched as the three friends continued to walk forward silently, he stopped suddenly, his eyes widening as he realized that those three would stand together even if the world were to crash around them. To not let them form a team would be ridiculous, they did nothing but highlight each other's best skills, complementing every step the other took.

_They work flawlessly together,_ Naruto thought, staring at Sakura's back in particular. _Will I work like that with someone? Or will I fail like in the academy exams?_

…

* * *

…

**The next chapter will have a modified graduation test for the eighth years that the fifth year Advanced Class Students take part in, some pass and become genin, others return to the academy for their final years.**

**These are the classes that I had in mind **

**Advanced Class Specialization and Top 2 Students:**

**Cryptology—****Shikamaru &amp; ****Umeko ****Yamanaka**

**Negotiations— Sasuke &amp; ****Ino ****Yamanaka**

**Fuinjutsu—Naruto &amp; Riko Yamauchi**

**Healing—Hinata &amp; Sakura**

**Taijutsu—Ami &amp; Sasuke**

**Chakra control—Sakura &amp; Ami**

**Ninjutsu—Umeko Yamanaka &amp; Riko Yamauchi**

**Page 12**


	17. Chapter 17

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 17: Graduation

Koomahana

**Force is followed by loss of strength**

**This is not the way of nature**

**That which goes against nature**

**Comes to an early end**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"Is everyone present?" Hiruzen asked, looking out at the rows of the Advanced Training Participants who stood together in fine straight lines. The jonin standing closest to him hummed in agreement, sweeping a hand out towards the sixty children standing in front of them; all separated by six rows of ten students.

"All thirty students are in the Advanced Class, only three from each year will be recognized as graduates of the course, which leaves for nine recognized Advanced Class Graduates." The man said, "I suggest pairing the three of each year together." Hiruzen stared at the children, all thirty children stood statue still, backs straight, eyes level, unfazed by the dozen high ranking adults staring dully at them. It seemed as if they were shy one year from the course, thirty students… that was sixth through eighth years. Where were the fifth years? Where they being late?

"Where are the fifth years?" Hiruzen asked, turning to look at the gates of the training grounds. Right on cue a crowd of children walked through the gates, each one imminently lined up in perfectly straight lines. There were still ten children in the advanced class but after the first and third quarters there was one less student in each class; currently there was only two or three of their class year in each class subject. What concerned him the most about the fifth years was that in every test they had, Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyūga and Ami Nanami tied in nearly every subject. Sakura was called the sprite of their village, and so far throughout her constant dedication to the Advanced Course she has yet to lose her third ranking position. Even when Sasuke Uchiha threatened to take it from her, she seemed to keep her station and had literally forced him to jump over her place to get ahead of her; and she didn't let him just jump over her station without a fight either.

"It would be wiser to place an advanced student with two non-advanced students…" Hiruzen said thoughtfully, "I will look at their results after today and decide later." The Jonin nodded and turned towards the Advanced Course students, he walked forward like a robot, back straight and head level.

"Listen up!" several children flinched at the drill-sergeant-voice, "You each are to work in teams of three; the first two people you meet will be your teammates, no exceptions. You are to get a single ribbon from at least one of the twenty Jonin's present." The children glanced at each other, as if trying to determine who would be the best to work with and who they should avoid. "You all have two hours to do this," the man continued, "Chose your opponents and teammate's wisely. Once you chose someone to fight, that Jonin will then continue to target you specifically; until you either get a ribbon or you are taken out of the test. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir~" Well, they all must've been absent the day they received their enthusiasm shot

"All eighth years will be the first to start the test," the man continued, "Each class year will be released in thirty minute increments, which leaves the Fifth years to go last."

_This is going to be difficult_, Sakura thought, staring at the other students in a mixture of worry and hope. She knew that a couple of her friends were standing further down the rows and they were most likely going to go against each other, she just hoped they would be smart enough to work with each other first.

"Fifth years!" Sakura's eyes widened as she saw the man turn towards her group, dark eyes sharp like blades and voice cold like ice. "You have the same task but half the time limit, understood?"

"That's bull!" Ami shouted, stepping forward with an angry look on her face, "why is our time limit cut in half?!"

"Because I'm not going to stand out here all freaking day to see if you ten marrons have what it takes to be shinobi," the man replied calmly, "That is the deal for the Advanced Class Participants." Ami growled but took her place behind Sakura, not something either one of them were particularly fond of. Each of them were supposed to stand in their current rank order, which was supposed to have Ami in the sixth placement but there was no way she was going to miss a chance to distract or hinder Sakura taking off. Hotaru Kazehitoha, the fifth year's home room teacher, was currently looking like he saw a ghost; that or he had the flu and was in a desperate need to see a doctor. The fifth year Advanced class line went; Sasuke, Shikamaru, Sakura, Ami, Hinata, Ino, Umeko, Naruto and Riko.

"Eighth Years get ready!" Every student flinched at the hard voice, few remained steady enough to watch the man as he disappeared, "GO!" Half the eighth years disappeared instantly, the other's scattered and regathered to form their teams. The fifth through seventh years either remained statue still or looked up at their home room teachers, confusion on their face.

"Seventh Years will begin their trial in thirty minutes," a gray haired Jonin said lazily as he stared down at his little orange book. "As for you eighth years… come on out," everyone watched as two teams of Genin surrounded the man, Sakura recognized a few from her homeroom, after all everyone in the advanced classes shared the same classes, only to be moved around until they were in the classes that would advance the skills they favored the most.

"Hay… that's Haruki," Ino whispered with a frown, "What is he doing? He's not ready for this…"

"Haruki-san shouldn't have revealed himself," Shikamaru grumbled sleepily, "he is best from a distance…"

"Maybe he'll act like a distraction?" Hinata asked thoughtfully, watching how several of the children attacked the man with wire strung weapons

"That won't work, _Idiots!_" Ami hissed, glaring at the group as the rigged weapons were easily batted aside like they were nothing.

"He is a jonin," Sakura whispered, looking worriedly at the group, "he won't fall for simplicity…"

"But they couldn't possibly…" Shikamaru watched as the man ducked under one kid's kick and another's punch, making both boys in question hit each other.

"Close range is suicide," Sakura and Ami whispered at the same time. She silently noticed how several of her classmates took seats on the ground, most rearranging themselves to get a better view of the 'show'.

"Long distance would be better," Kiba said thoughtfully, watching how one student threw a chakra charged kunai at the man while his back was turned, "he's someone with close range specialty." He sighed in disappointment as the man quickly ducked out of the way, tackling another student out of the way just for safety sakes.

"We know that dog-breath," Ami growled in frustration, ignoring the resulting warning growl from the Inuzuka and his partner, "but with that hair and slanted headband… I think I know who he is…"

"Really?" Naruto asked in interest

"I doubt that'll help, he won't revile his eye so soon," Sakura replied calmly. Everyone in the advanced class was at one point or another given the task of identifying the Jonin in their village, the higher their rank the more points the student got on the paper they handed in. Sakura did her's alphabetically while Ami had done her's in terms of strength; she clearly favored those with Elemental specialties.

"No, not against academy students," Ami agreed, sighing as she stretched her arms out in front of her, "they're toast." Sakura hummed in agreement, watching said jonin tie up three eighth years with little effort, seemingly at the same time. Hotaru tried very hard not to make any noise, his face gained a little color but not enough to make him look healthy. Of course Ami doesn't mind speaking to Sakura, on the condition that she's distracted enough to not realize that it's Sakura she's speaking with. It was rare but it did happen on occasion, Hotaru was glad that the gray haired man in front of them was a big enough distraction to let the two girls compare notes. The three rows of children all jerked together as the man who gave them their instructions earlier appeared and dropped off a single tightly bound and struggling eighth year. They watched as he spoke to the gray haired Jonin with a look of disapproval on his face before looking down at his watch in mild surprise.

"Seventh years!" Half of the seventh year stiffened, "GO!" they disappeared into the nearest trees, leaving their comrades in a cloud of thick dust. Sakura could barely hide her smirk as the sixth years were bathed in a cloud of pure dust, Ami made no effort at all to hide her amusement. Thirty minutes later the Same Jonin who gave their instructions appeared completely unscathed, even dropped off three firmly bound seventh years.

"Sixth years," not one student so much as flinched as he turned frigid black eyes onto the two remaining groups of children, "GO!" the sixth years left with an explosion, the air nearly trembled as they all scattered without anyone seeing which way they went.

"A$$ holes!" Ami screamed shrilly as she coughed and hacked, trying to get the dust out of her eyes and mouth

"You'll pay for that!" Sakura shouted herself, tears threatening her vision as she coughed harshly, waving her free hand in front of her face

_If the Jonin's don't get them these two will,_ Hotaru thought with a sigh, watching how Shikamaru walked back towards them, clearly having expected the little bout of vengeance from his seniors. Several other students looked like they were tempted to disappear and deal with the sixth years themselves but a firm look from the gray haired Jonin stilled most of them. Naruto however had to be restrained with a simple earth bind jutsu, his mouth gagged to keep him from screaming promises of a beat down on his elders. Even Sasuke Uchiha appeared disgusted with the dust that dared to mar his right arm-warmer, surprisingly that was the only piece of cloth that had dirt on it. He must've dodged the blast before returning to make it look as if he never left.

…

* * *

…

Ren stared at the clock on her wall, wondering just when the test would be over. She was beginning to wonder why she was feeling so antsy and why Ami was the only thing on her mind, even as Kameyama made her lunch in her kitchen; something she would typically watch with a school-girl fascination.

"You seem distracted," Kameyama said as he set a plate in front of her and took a seat beside her, "are you worried about Ami-chan?"

"Yes," Ren said slowly, Kameyama stared at her for a moment, a soft hum sounding in the back of his throat

"Ren-chan I've been meaning to ask you something," Kameyama started, drawing her attention towards him

"Hmm?"

"When are you going to start trusting me?" Kameyama asked, lifting his tea cup, and surprising Ren. "I know you're a retired Kunochi, there are several in the Nanami family. What I don't know is why you're so desperate to pretend to be civilian and not—"

"The missions," Ren whispered a look of devastation and regret etched itself on to her face, "my last mission out… I returned home to find my niece dead…"

"I see," Kameyama sighed and he did, he read the file on Sayuri Nanami, Ami's elder sister who had died when she was five. The worst part was that the girl hadn't even been out on a mission when she died, she was protecting Ami. Sayuri's body was curled around Ami's; her body froze in place with the night's cold. Sayuri died from hyperthermia and chakra exhaustion; it was assumed the young Genin had used up all of her chakra to keep Ami warm during the night. Their father wasn't charged for the death of his eldest daughter because he wasn't home when it happened, there was really nothing the investigators could do. The investigation was sloppy, there was a lot of 'he said' and 'she said' as well as meaningless assumptions; in short, no one could get enough evidence to arrest the father.

"…when your brother died, why didn't you return to duty?" Kameyama asked softly, not expecting an answer. He could understand why Ren didn't want to, being scared out of her mind for Ami's safety, but that didn't explain why she was so desperate to remain a civilian.

"…some things should remain buried," Ren whispered softly, staring dully into her tea cup, _I cannot ask for forgiveness._ Kameyama stilled for a moment, his eyes locking on Ren before lowering onto the wooden coffee table.

Again he could understand

…

* * *

…

"Of spring and snow, who shall speak?" Hotaru felt his brow twitch; of course one of the sixth year advanced students would take advantage of Sakura's and Ami's presence on the side lines. Not many fifth years could match their intelligence and none could deduce people's skills like they could, nor could any of them come up with efficient plans to take out their opponent the fastest with the least amount of work like Sakura and Ami could… well, maybe Shikamaru could but he was too lazy to help anyone who wasn't Sakura or Shino.

"Try snow," Sakura sighed, watching the gray haired man dust his hands together and return to observing the tree line opposite of them. On cue a few weapons flew at him, she watched him visibly sag before disappearing in a cloud of white smoke, revealing a thick log in his place. Sakura briefly wounded when he performed the substitution technique, she hadn't seen him weave any hand signs since the test began.

"To win the race, the course of the falcon is best," Ami said without removing her eyes from the man. Watching how the man reappeared with a snuggly, gagged and struggling bound boy under one arm. He quickly placed the boy in the steadily growing pile of Advanced Participants who failed the test and proceeded to look around himself before pulling out his previous orange book and returned to reading seemingly uncaringly.

"Hmm, the falcon would need to watch its height," Sakura said in disagreement, "getting too close without aid would doom the bird."

_What is it with you two and riddles?_ Hotaru thought, his shoulders slumping with a heavy sigh.

"The tiger and leopard shall aid the falcon," Ami and Sakura shared a glance, sighed and returned to watching the acer of mostly empty space in front of them. The fifth year Academy students eventually got tired of standing and several joined the others on the ground, sitting patiently and watching several Jonin's begin to pile up the eighth, seventh and soon the sixth year students in the center of the training grounds, leaving that single gray haired Jonin to guard them. Sakura and Ami remained standing stubbornly, both watching the gray haired man with fascination as he dealt with the few souls brave enough to take him on. Twenty minutes past and half of the Jonin's remained hidden in the training ground somewhere, the few who returned because of boredom were beginning to feel uneasy with the near unnatural silence of the remaining Advanced Class Students.

"So," Hotaru spoke up, feeling the silence begin to stifle him, "Who do you two think will pass this year?"

"Neji Hyūga," the two girls answered at the same time, watching two people clash high over the trees further in the training grounds; exchanging blinding blows highlighted by the sparks of their kunai knifes.

"…anyone else?" one of the other Jonin's asked, staring up at the two girls curiously.

_Kami-sama let them willing work together for once_, Hotaru thought, watching both girls glance at each other. It had been months since they last worked together and not once in the past five years did they work together willingly, every single time their teamwork was tricked by a few key words from their various instructors.

Their remarkable teamwork was usually followed with unbelievable disaster

"Temporary truce?" Sakura asked, turning to look at Ami in a curious manner, as if she didn't expect the purple haired girl to agree

"Emphasize on 'temporary'," Ami said with a sharp nod, Sakura quickly nodded herself. "I think maybe that Tenten girl should pass, you?"

"Her skill with weapons and distance is adequate for a Genin," Sakura said, pursing her lips, "but her long range skills will be taken advantage of if she isn't paired up with someone who can provide immanent cover of her person."

"So you think that someone on her team should be close range?" Ami questioned, "She could cover them from a distance and they could protect her from anyone with Taijutsu skill…"

"But that would leave the middle range unchecked," Sakura sighed, adjusting her hold on her book

"So then she'd need to be paired with someone who specializes in middle to close range and someone in middle to long range?" Ami asked with a frown, "That doesn't sound right…"

"Most likely because _she_ specializes in middle to long range distance," Sakura replied, "her partners would need to be middle to close range. That or she could gain a Jonin sensei who'll help her with her close range Taijutsu that she lacks."

"That would involve a Taijutsu master," Ami huffed, "I doubt that this village even has one that'll pay her any attention…" a sudden scream of 'power of youth' echoed through the air and both girls had to stop to look dumbly at each other.

"That would be the village's Taijutsu master," Hotaru said, his voice full of amusement, "He'll take care of her—"

"HAAAA _RAAA!_" everyone fell silent as something huge and green burst out of the tree tops, quickly followed by various sharp weapons thrown from the safety of the trees. "Now that's the power of youth! Keep it going girly!" Sakura and Ami watched in disgusted awe as the man in the green spandex agilely avoided several weapons that were quickly followed by a white blur of movement. "HAHAHAA! Now that's the power of youth!" the green man and the white blur went round and round and for a moment the weapons stopped, just as the two blurs separated another barrage of weapons rained down on the man in green.

"Not half bad," Hotaru said just as the man in the field beside the pile of bound children let out a sharp whistle, "He rescued his teammate without getting damaged, pretty good for pre-genin."

"Huh?" Sakura and Ami turned to look up at their teacher, confusion etched on their faces. It was in that moment that Hotaru realized that despite their skills, they were still children and they were still learning.

"His teammate got captured by Maito Gai, the Jonin in green you just saw fighting with the boy in white," Hotaru explained patiently. "His long range friend distracted Gai-san long enough to get in and grab his friend before he could be bound. That's why the boy in white didn't stop moving around Gai-san, he needed to get his teammate back."

"Ah," both girls turned right around and observed the loudly gloating man in green and the calmly reading white haired man.

"That was Tenten wasn't it?" Sakura asked, blinking as if she just realized something

"Ah, and it was Neji who questioned us earlier," Ami agreed, giving Sakura a shark like smirk

"…then it was Lee he saved," the two girls sighed together, "of course _he_ would be the captured one."

_You both are too strange,_ Hotaru thought with a heavy sigh

"Fifth years get ready!" the girls stiffened and looked at each other, eyes glinting and hard

"Truce, off!" both girls nodded and turned away from each other, their complete attention was on the man suddenly standing in front of them

"You are to partake in the test in Five!" the Fifth years all looked around each other, trying to decide who would work best with who. Having perfectly even numbers, they would be easily divided into three groups of three but knew that one would be left out of the loop; if any of them were able to team up with each other in the first place.

"Four!" the forest of the training grounds fell silent as the few remaining eighth, seventh and sixth years all returned to the main grounds, ready to adopt a fifth year into their ranks if it meant passing the test. The lazing about Jonin's all smirked as a few cocky eighth years revealed themselves, eyeing the fifth years like hungry wolfs.

"Three!" the still participating Jonin's reappeared in front of the Fifth years, all crouched low and ready to attack

"Two!" the Fifth years readied themselves to disappear, some forming hand signs

"One!" echoing explosions signature of lightning sounded, whips of water and clouds of dust appeared and disappeared, the wind picked up and then, silence ruled over the field. All that remained around the single Homeroom teacher representing the fifth year was empty air, several Jonin's looked at him expectantly—as was the Hokage.

"Well," Hotaru started smiling to himself, "they aren't called the 'Aces Advanced' for nothing."

…

* * *

…

_Sister,_ Ren gasped, her hand flying to her forehead, her eyes widening and her face paling, _I've found her._

_No!_ Ren thought in horror, staggering to her feet, her chair falling over back words

_It is time to gather,_ the voice whispered in her mind, _Master has summoned us… all of us._

_I am no longer his child!_ Ren racked her fingers threw her scalp, ignoring the soft hands that wrapped around her upper arms, keeping her steady and on her feet. _I've thrown that part of me away! I refuse to be that way again!_

…_you've always wore two masks,_ her sister's voice whispered, steadily growing stronger and stronger. _But it is not you I seek, master has warned me of you._

"_N_o_,"_ Ren whispered, in her voice and in her mind, "_n_o_t _h_e_r_…_" _Don't take her!_

_It is not your place to tell me what I can and cannot do!_

"Ren!" Kameyama growled, shaking her slightly, "What is wrong?"

"Ami," Ren whispered, tears dripping down her cheeks, "Ami is in danger…" it occurred to her too late that she had no way of explaining how she knew that. Ren's wide black eyes snapped up to Kamiyama's with horrified realization, his softly tanned features were twisted into a frown, his brown eyes narrowed into suspicion.

"How do you know that?"

…

* * *

…

Sakura hummed as she slid into place on a tree branch, crouched low to remain hidden in the leafy branches of the tree. The first thing she had to do was to find Shikamaru and Shino, they worked well together and true they worked well with others, but they were best with each other. Far to her right, she saw Hinata quickly slide into a well-practiced stance and attacked an older Jonin-Kunochi, Aoi close behind her and an eighth year covering them from afar. Technically Sakura's teammates would be the first ones she saw, but the first ones she saw already had a third teammate. However… Sakura smirked as she made eye-contact with the long range teammate of Hinata's group. Just to mess with the Jonin, Sakura set up a mild trap that she knew Hinata could see and would most likely make use of. Sakura then quickly disappeared before the Jonin could see her and tried her best to stick close to the shadows, the darker the better. The second person she saw was the famed Sasuke Uchiha, stuck in the ground up to his neck, one brow twitching wildly on his forehead. With a groan threatening to slip past her lips, Sakura knew she was to team up with Sasuke. Seeing the familiar looking gray haired Jonin calmly make his way back towards the Uchiha heir, Sakura quickly used a small illusion on the man and revealed herself. Before the gray haired man could dispel the genjutsu, Sakura touched Sasuke's head and used a quick substitution to get them out of sight. She landed on the ground and quickly dived back through the underbrush, she knew Sasuke was close behind when she felt him loop an arm around her waist and dive off to the side just in time to avoid a smoke screen, curtesy of the gray haired Jonin now perusing them.

"OI! Bastard! Let me down!" Sakura sighed as she twisted out of Sasuke's hold and quickly dived out of his way as he entered in a hand to hand fight with the gray haired man. Of course she would end up with the two most reckless boys of the advanced class. She couldn't work with her boys, oh no~ she couldn't. Sakura had to be partnered with the Class Ace and the Class Clown; just what did she do to offend fate that she'd curse her so?

"I won't let you get the ribbon," the man said, appearing in front of Sakura with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Sakura didn't need to glance behind her to know that Sasuke was still fighting the man, so she figured that she was fighting a clone instead of the actual Jonin. "So, you must be Sakura Haruno," the man said lazily, Sakura hummed and slid into a defensive stance, green eyes sliding to look behind him to Naruto, who continued to dangle upside down from a tree branch.

"You're not what I expected," the man continued lazily, Sakura smirked and practically dived forward. "What are you going to do? Thump me with your book?" the man asked as he pulled out a kunai and readied it against her, his eyes widened when Sakura's right hand flared bright blue and sliced right through the fake Kunai knife. Without thinking twice about it, because he was supposed to be fake, Sakura slammed her chakra coated palm against his arm, leg and his chest. She then spun under his left arm and ran as fast as she could towards Naruto. Sensing something coming after her, Sakura jumped and threw a kunai at Naruto's bound leg.

"Thank's Sakura-chan!" Naruto said as he flipped in the air and landed on his feet, only to give a startle shout as another rope wrapped around his ankle and sent him into the air again. "Damn it!" Naruto went to look at Sakura hopefully but only saw her defending herself from one really peeved Jonin, he turned to look at Sasuke and found the black haired boy bound to a tree in wire.

If he didn't get out of the rope they were all doomed

…

* * *

…

"You've got to be kidding me," Kakuzu drawled as he stopped walking, staring dully down at the once village from the hill top they all stood atop. Hiden stared dully at the village they destroyed a few years ago, blinking slowly at it, as if surprised that it still stood.

"Told you I wasn't nuts," Hiden smirked at Kakuzu, only curse as his partner threw a bolt of lightning at him. "Oi! Watch it turtle face!" Kakuzu's glare hardened on Hiden, his threads flaring into life from his extended right arm.

"It would be wiser to save our energy for the coming fight," Itachi said in boredom

"What fight freak?" Deidara asked loudly, "That village is half destroyed!"

"If you believe that the hidden villages are unware of Hiden's plan you are by far more foolish then I thought," Itachi replied walking past his 'teammates'. One of the guilds stiffened, his hooded head turned towards North east, his comrades soon followed his example, their heads tilted slightly to the side.

"Hiden-Oji-sama there is a change in plans," Kyou murmured turning to face Hiden, "Ruia will need our aid soon."

"What that B*tch can't finish her F*ing mission?" Hiden asked with a frown at the robbed man

"She will be attacking the village soon but she'll require a quick escape as soon as she locates the Hime," Kyou replied calmly, "if Hime resists then she will need our aid and Master assures us that Hime _will_ resist."

"F**ing Damn w*ore!" Hiden screamed at the sky

"Out of all of us Deidara can arrive the fastest," Kakuzu drawled as he stared dully at his partner, "Send the boy to the village."

"Oi Kyou-bastard where is Ruia anyway?" Hiden asked, seemingly ignoring Kakuzu

"She is heading towards the hidden leaf," Kyou answered blandly, not seeing Itachi stilling at the information, "She'll arrive within its walls by the end of the hour."

"Blonde-dumb-a** go wait in the sky over the hidden F*ing leaf village," Hiden ordered the blonde bomb-specialist. His order was met with a clay spider flying onto his face and exploding, Hiden screamed shrilly at Deidara as he flew well out of the nutcase's range.

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 11**


	18. Chapter 18

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 18: Teammates?

Koomahana

**I did a little changing to chapter 14, basically Sakura had to go home early and didn't stick around long for Hiruzen's birthday party**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

* * *

_That which shrinks must first expand_

_That which fails must first be strong_

_That which is cast down must first be raised_

_Before receiving there must be giving_

_This is the nature of all things_

_Soft and weak overcome the hard and strong_

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Ami slid to a stop, her back pressed tightly against Riko Yamauchi. Of course the first person she came across just had to be in a fight with another Jonin, just as she was getting away from her own attacker. Now they were both stuck back to back, their opponents standing opposite of them and crouched low with smirks on their faces. Clearly the two men were used to working together and thought that tag-teaming them would end the fight sooner and defiantly in their favor.

"I just had to stumble across a F*cking fight," Ami growled under her breath, Riko snorted readying her hooked kunai in front of her defensively. Riko was pretty good at Taijutsu but she was best in performing long range ninjutsu, she was basically average in the rest of her classes, barely managing to remain in the advanced class since she entered.

"You're the one who dragged _your_ opponent into _my_ fight," Riko replied as calmly as she could, easily blocking a few kunai that were painfully-obvious about testing her flexibility.

"Uh-huh, it's totally my fault," Ami said sarcastically, encasing her hands in lightning, "That's bull!" she slammed her hands into the earth and let the lightning arc out towards the Jonin attacking her, she then made it arc off the ground and towards the man's weapon's holster.

"Oi! We're not here to kill them!" Riko snapped, readying her weapon of choice, "We're to become teammate's!"

"Too slow!" the man in front of the burnet snapped as he burst forward

"Secret art: hundred blades!" Riko screamed, throwing her kunai with a desperation that surprised her. The man cursed as the one kunai multiplied into a hundred, he tried to block them but had to quickly retreat when the kunai increased speed and narrowed in on his person.

"Oh and you harp on me," Ami snorted and rolled her eyes, only to realize that her original opponent had disappeared again.

"Hay, I can't kill anyone with that technique," Riko shot back, "you could've fried him!"

"I would not!" Ami replied offended, "I would've stunned him, not kill him!" Riko's response was cut off by a shrill scream, both girls barley had enough time to register it before a body was slammed into them, knocking them to the ground a dozen paces from where they originally stood. Ami coughed and pushed the too small body off herself, sitting up only to freeze as the tip of a sword stopped just inches shy of her nose.

"Wh-what happened?" Riko wheezed, pushing herself up slightly, blinking dizzy blue eyes at Ami and the Jonin standing in front of them with a triumphant smirk.

"S-Sorry," a weak sounding voice wheezed to Ami's left, a glance showed her long golden hair, pale skin and a familiar looking purple wide-necked top.

"Umeko~" Riko whined, slumping back on to the ground with a huff, "of course you'd find the one Jonin who'd _literally_ kick you across a training ground."

"Hay! I was trying to run from him!" Umeko whined, turning teary-honey colored eyes onto the other two girls. "I hadn't meant to step on that spring! I swear it!"

"You tripped a trap?" Ami asked, looking at the blonde in disbelief, "Seriously? I thought you were a sensor type?"

"I sense people not objects!" Umeko hissed, her nearly perfectly round lips were split by a cut and a bruise; obviously she was kicked in the face at one point. Even Ami had to flinch back by the nasty bruise spanning half of the girl's face, there was no way she'd ever allow that happen to herself.

"What's with the foot print on your face?" Riko asked with a raised eyebrow, Umeko turned angry orange eyes onto the man standing in front of them.

"Not my fault you didn't sense me," the man smirked, his brown hair was kept back by his bandana and a wooden senbon rolled back and forth in his mouth.

"You're suppressing your chakra!" Umeko barked at him, waving an accusing finger at him, "You're suppressing it more than Ami and Sakura-san do!"

"OI! Why dose forehead get an honorific?!" Ami asked, rounding onto the sprawled out blonde, "I don't even get a 'san' or a 'chan'?! Seriously?!"

"We're not teammates!" Umeko replied, only she seemed to have remembered what they were told before the test, "No!" Umeko cried in distress, tears flying to her pupil less-orange eyes, "I don't wanna be your teammate!"

"I don't want to either," Riko admitted, looking slightly defeated, "but we have no choice."

"Too damn bad!" Ami barked, glaring at both of them, "Deal with it!"

"You all accept being teammates?" the man asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk

"Do we have a choice?" the three girls asked with deadpan expressions

"Hmm," the man smirked at them, the blade in his hand lowering, his smirk turning into a smile, "Alright then—"

"Nu-uh Genma! Find your own genin!" the man barely ducked in time to avoid the flying kick of Ami's previous Jonin opponent, "Damn it!" the man screamed as he sailed past the amused Jonin

"Nope, I win this bunch. Go pick someone else Shioi," Genma smirked at the flying man before turning back to the girls, "Now for you three—"

"Look out!" Riko screamed, Genma turned around just in time to see the black haired man slid to a stop, right into the pointed blade of a blackened figure.

"Shioi!" Genma screamed, turning to face the man he was just bantering with, ignoring the three petrified girls sitting on the ground beside him. The man gave a wet sounding cough, screaming when the figure lifted him off the ground and then threw him into the woods carelessly. Genma flinched as he saw that the blackened figure was actually a blood soaked woman with ratty black hair and emotionless silver eyes. The woman lowered the tip of her blade, showing that her weapon of choice looked like a single bladed scythe, its blade stretching onto the back and upwards in sharp diamonds. The staff of the weapon gleamed eerie silver, the very end of it was flattened into the shape of a short blade that ran up the handle to rest nearly knee level on the woman.

"I've found you," the unidentified woman said lowly, her voice low and gravely, as if she hadn't spoken in a few years. "Child of rain… come home with me," the woman pulled her sheathe so the bigger hooked blade rested above her head, the staff piece sitting soundly against her back. "It is time to bring destruction upon this world," the woman offered her free hand, her attention completely riveted onto the three trembling girls, "Child of rain, I called to you." Slowly Genma's eyes dropped down to the three girls kneeing on the ground, the only one of them with rain in their name looked positively terrified. Ami sat trembling between Riko and Umeko, her normally narrowed eyes were wide in horror, and her face was pale like snow. He had studied up on the fifth and sixth generation of the advanced class students, Ami stood out as the dominate type who wasn't easy to frighten much less startle. Yet here she was, shaking like a leaf and looking like she just saw a ghost.

"Child of Rain," the woman's silver eyes narrowed, "you've been given an order, return with me."

"N-No!" Ami stuttered, her voice cracking in hysteria as she fell on her bottom and leaned away, as if she intended to crawl back words away from the woman, "Stay away from me!"

"Riko, Umeko retreat with Ami," Genma ordered, fluctuating his chakra to call others to his location, "I'll take care of her."

"NO!" Ami screamed, "Don't let her touch you!"

"I won't," Genma replied calmly, "I saw her five years go. Crow from Anbu filled me in on her abilities. I won't let her get close enough." The three girls looked up at him with frightened expressions, they were in the advanced class sure, but no amount of training could prepare them for the death of an ally right in front of them. "GO!" Riko grabbed Ami's arm and dragged her into the forest, Umeko was quick to follow them, even going so far as pulling one of Ami's arms around her shoulders as they ran. The woman moved to chase after them, but Genma stood in the way, an overly lengthened Kunai in hand. With the knowledge that a new war was approaching, many of the Chunin and Jonin took up new specializations, determined to win the war with as few casualties as possible.

"Not going to happen hag," Genma growled, his weapon of choice glowing bright blue, "you won't touch her!"

"Then you will die," she replied courtly

…

"Hold up," Umeko called as she turned in their sprint to dive off into the underbrush nearby, Riko tightened her hold on Ami and turned to follow the blonde.

"Umeko" Riko hissed, when she cleared a bush and finally spotted the blonde, "We were told—what are you doing?" Riko quickly interrupted herself, her eyes widening as Umeko pulled back to reveal the Jonin who had gotten stabbed by the woman.

"He's still alive," Umeko whispered, her hands pressed against the gapping whole in his chest, "I think we can save him."

"We're not medics Umeko," Riko tried to reason, her eyes flying up as several blurs quickly flew past overhead, and the sound of an explosion rocketed too close to them. "Alright fine, carry him if you can, let's just go," Riko said, her blue eyes watching the tree branches over head with frightened urgency.

"I'll have to make a clone but I can," Umeko reasoned, she formed a few hand signs and a slow and shaky earthen clone pulled itself from the ground beside her. "It's not complete but it'll have to do," Umeko said when she caught sight of Riko's disbelieving look. Her clone-self looked as bad as one of Naruto's illusion self, the only difference is that Umeko's appeared to have a bone structure and was able to move, whereas Naruto's couldn't.

"Alright, let's go," Riko whispered, pulling Ami onto her back and putting her hands under the girl's legs to lift her full weight.

"Right," they took a running start on the ground before moving up into the trees, using a series of jumps and branches to gain height.

_I need to tell Aunty,_ Ami thought her mind taking her back to the night she was hiding from her father, only to watch him die. She knew Ren wasn't related to her but Ren did save her life and she sought to return the favor, now they were both in trouble. Ren had warned her of her twin, told her how the younger woman wouldn't change her mind no matter what was thrown in front of her. Ren grew soft on children but Ruia didn't let that stop her, she killed indiscriminately. According to Ren, Ruia would try to gain her trust only to turn around and kill her when she was least expecting it.

If Ruia found them, then it was time to run and hide, which meant she would have to leave the village

…

* * *

…

Sakura took a deep breath and slowly let it out, to her left was Sasuke and to her right was Naruto; all three of them were tied together on a single post. Naruto was kicking up a fuss with the gray haired man in front of them, who was reading his book just to spite them, and Sasuke was glaring off to the side.

"Continue to scream if you want," the man drawled lazily, "it won't do you a lick of—" Sakura flinched as she felt a wave of chakra slam straight threw her, like a bulldozer flying through her middle, threatening to rip her apart, "—good." the man turned sharply around, his one good eye narrowed in thoughtful consideration, as if he was torn between choices and didn't know which move he should take.

"Sakura," Sasuke hissed

"Forty-five meters north east," Sakura said, eyes closed and head slightly bowed, "signatures are converging on two battling chakras…" Sakura gasped suddenly, her eyes widening, her face turning stark white, her knees buckling beneath what little weight was stationed on them; pulling at the hard rope keeping her and the boys up, nearly cutting off circulation to the boy's arms in the process.

"S-Sakura-chan," Naruto called out with a wince

"What is it?" Sasuke asked as the man turned to look at them, "What is it?"

"They're falling," Sakura whispered in horror, "they're falling…" Sakura slammed down onto her knees as the man released them from the post, the Kunai he used stuck nearly hilt deep.

"Get her the hell out of here," the Jonin ordered coldly, "Get to Hotaru-san and make sure the other students are evacuated as well, then go to the academy and make sure they repeat the process." He was gone before the boys could respond; both crouched beside Sakura, barely managing to keep her up from the ground. For once, Naruto looked unsure, he almost looked afraid and that alone unsettled Sasuke. Sasuke gulped and pulled one of Sakura's arms over his shoulder, Naruto quickly mimicked him and they both started running for the exit. They ran into a few other kids who looked unsettled, apparently receiving the same order from other Jonin's as they did. When they finally reached the edge of the training grounds, the once bound seniors were all standing together in bewilderment, free from their ropes.

"Naruto-kun, over here!" Naruto looked over at the familiar voice, "SAKURA!" Naruto flinched back at the sudden cry, everyone turned to look at them curiously. Immanently two boys barged out of the crowed and surrounded them, carefully taking Sakura from Sasuke and Naruto while Hinata ran her Byakugan eyes over her friend carefully.

"She appears just fine," Hinata sighed, putting her hands on her knees with a heavy sigh

"Is anyone else hurt?" Shikamaru asked with a frown, carefully laying Sakura's head against his shoulder while Shino let some of his bugs both search their surroundings and cling to each of them protectively. Hinata sighed and quickly reactivated her bloodline limit, carefully checking over every single student within her point of view.

"Everyone's injuries are minor," Hinata whispered, watching Ino appear out of the woods with what looked like a twisted ankle, she was leaning heavily against one of the eighth years. "None worth reporting… ah!"

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, his voice surprisingly hard as his head jerked in her direction

"Ami," Hinata whispered in surprise, turning towards the nearest trees. Shikamaru and the others were quick to follow her lead and it wasn't long before the others looked at the nearest trees as well, all searching for the thing that captured Hinata's undivided attention. Within moments two large figures came into view and shortly after skidded to a stop in front of the crowed, gasps imminently surrounded the air around them.

"Everyone needs to evacuate!" Riko ordered, one knee slammed down on the ground, her shoulders were draped in familiar thin arms wrapped in silky white. A deep purple pony-tail peaked out from behind Riko's twin brown pony-tails, and she held on to a pair of pearl white legs. "Genma-san needs help!"

"We already sent relieve," one of the few remaining Jonin said, he was already taking roll and had quickly handed off the list to another man to take somewhere else. "Everyone! Listen up!" the man shouted as he marched towards Riko and her teammate's, eyes glued to the wounded man hanging off Umeko, "The test is over! Get back to your normal classes now!"

"What?!"

"You're kidding right?"

"Oh come on!"

"What the heck?!"

"But sensei!"

"No buts!" the man snapped, his aura suddenly darkening and bring the young children into complete order, "You are to do as you're told!"

"Look out!" Everyone scattered to the side as a small explosion shook the earth under them, it only took them a moment to realize that the cry came from several Hyūga's, who had their Byakugan activated the whole time.

"Ami! Riko!" Umeko called, coughing as she was forced to let go of the man she tried to save, leaving him to sprawl out beside her. The Jonin who was talking to them appeared beside her, lifting his injured comrade and carefully nudging the blonde's shoulder, silently ordering her to back away.

"We're fine!" Riko called, pushing herself up, her eyes widened as she saw that it was Ami who had pushed her out of the way. The purple haired girl was crouched protectively in front of her, arms spread out wide to either side, trembling slightly only to the brunet who was close enough to see.

"Go away!" Ami shouted, "You're not wanted here!" Riko blinked and looked at the person in front of Ami, crouching lowly in a perfect dent of where they were once, was a shadowed figure with a haunting persona of a scythe braced against its back.

_No,_ Riko thought in horror, scrambling into a low crouch, as if she was ready to dive out of the way of another attack.

"Child of rain," the shadowed figured whispered, the chilly cold voice echoed through the air, turning the children into statues. The figure's head rose and icy-silver eyes peered out of the smoke and darkness that surrounded it, "return with me." Again the darkened form offered Ami a hand, as if it expected the purple haired girl to do as she was told, but Ami shook her head violently, her eyes squeezing shut as she belted out her answer.

"GO AWAY!" with Ami's terrified cry, came the arcing electricity of her primary Chakra Nature, attacking the blackened form.

"Suiton: Water lock!" Ami gasped as the blackened woman was encased in a large bubble of water, which was quickly charged with her electricity, increasing her unconscious attack power three fold.

"Everyone retreat!" Shikamaru's voice roared, just as the woman's voice echoed out of the water bubble in pain filled screams, "Evacuate the school! Get the wounded out of here!" imminently the Advanced Students rose to the orders, the eighth years imminently started to get the wounded out of the area while several Jonin came in to surround them. Several sixth years left to inform the Hokage of the situation while those with medical knowledge imminently started tending to those with life threatening injuries. The Jonin's tried their best to protect the children and their burden lessoned as more shinobi arrived and gave aid to the struggling medics-to-be.

"Sakura!" Shikamaru barked, his eyes widening as suddenly the orb of water burst into hot steam. Several Chunin grabbed a few of the children and threw them out of the way of the steam while others flat out used themselves as shields and a few Jonins erected earthen or muddy walls to protect the wounded. Shikamaru slumped slightly as he felt the familiar warm thrum of Sakura's chakra, the wind seemed to howl in fury as it burst into being, surrounding the once orb and keeping the hot steam centered around their enemy.

"We're fine!" Sakura coughed in the thick hot mist, "Is everyone gone?!"

"Just our year and a few others!" Shikamaru replied, hearing a familiar buzzing from behind, he imminently lowered himself into a crouch and focused on his family's technique.

"We must get her out," Shino said from behind Shikamaru, his insects surrounding them protectively and creating enough shadow for Shikamaru to use, "Why? Because there is something wrong with that woman." They both watched as the mist bulked and what appeared to be a spear of twisting air pierced out the side of the hot swirling steam, Ami soon followed the wind-arrow with Riko slung over her shoulder. Sakura was close behind her, throwing a rigged kunai into the hot mist and forcing it to close after her.

"I agree, can you locate the others?" Shikamaru asked as his shadows lifted into the air just as the explosion tag went off and cleared the smoke, revealing their enemy easily. Shikamaru didn't hesitate as his shadows imminently surrounded the woman in thick black strands, holding her in place while several Jonin took the chance to cut into her quickly.

"You two get out of here!" a gray haired man barked as he landed in front of them, "take your friends while you're at it." Then he was gone again, Shikamaru glanced towards Sakura and Ami, watching the pinket run softly glowing palms over Riko before moving over to Umeko's and Ino's minor injuries. Surrounding the five girls was Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata, the three standing protectively around the slightly burned girls. Hinata's eyes were glowing bright white with her Byakugan and from where Shikamaru crouched at, he could barely see what looked like flashes of crimson in Sasuke's eyes. To Shikamaru's right side, closest to the edge of the training grounds, stood the majority of the sixth years along with a kid that Shikamaru didn't recognize.

"Everyone retreat!" Shikamaru bellowed again, rising to his feet and stepping back, "We've got to evacuate the school! NOW!"

"Right!" Sakura bobbed her head and carefully lifted one of Riko's arms over her shoulder, Ami taking up the other side, together they both started running away with Umeko helping Ino and the others close behind them. It wasn't long before the remaining students were out of the training ground, regrouped and headed straight for the safe houses behind the Hokage monument.

…

* * *

…

Kakashi sighed as he left the training grounds, the woman disappeared just as the children's chakra signature's disappeared from his senses. That told him they were safely hidden behind the chakra suppressing rock of the Hokage monument, the safest place for them to be. He already knew the Hokage was informed of the situation by several of the students and that the complete evacuation of the civilian population was underway with the primary aid of the Hyūga and Yamanaka clans. He also knew that as one of the senior Jonin of the village and as one of the proctors for this year's genin graduation, he was to report his 'findings' on the students to the Hokage.

_This isn't going to be fun,_ Kakashi thought as he slid to a stop beside the open window to the Hokage's office

"Kakashi-kun," Hiruzen greeted with a frown on his lips, bent over a large table covered in the village map that had several dancing yellow, green, blue and a few orange dots floating around its surface.

"Lord Hokage," Kakashi greeted as he entered the office, "What is that?"

"A map of the village," Hiruzen answered blandly, not looking up from the map

"…I meant the moving dots of color," Kakashi said as he stopped beside the large round table. His eye widened slightly as he saw that it was a very detailed map of the village, from his angle he could actually tell that it was completely three dimensional, complete with half-transparent buildings and trees.

"Yellow is civilian, Green are Genin, Blue are Chunin and Orange are Jonin," Hiruzen answered quickly, reaching up to touch a mike stationed at his throat. "Cell B, check third floor. It looks like someone got left behind, back room." Kakashi could barely make out voice from Hiruzen's ear peace giving a positive response, he watched as three blue dots leaped from the ground to the red building beside them.

"That's a nifty trick," Kakashi chuckled, "so what does our enemy look like?"

"She would be the moving red dot," Hiruzen said, his voice slipping into a low growl. "Unfortunately she has the ability to completely cancel out the negativity in her chakra signature, turning her red dot into a yellow one."

"How is that possible?" Kakashi asked, turning to look at the old man seriously

"It means she doesn't hold anything against this village or its shinobi," Hiruzen answered, "it means she has a specific target and doesn't care about anything else. This map may show me everyone in this village, but anyone who isn't a direct threat to the village or the people are classified as nonlethal and are given a black dot; denoting their shinobi training but lack of negative emotion regarding the village."

"I don't see any black dots," Kakashi said softly

"I think it's because… she's a glitch," Hiruzen said, pulling back from the map to rub at his face. "More importantly I have some news you need to hear."

"Why do I have feeling this isn't good news?" Kakashi asked

"The rest of the village will be alerted to the war status soon enough, but most of the other Jonin are already aware of it," Hiruzen said, closing his eyes as if he just wanted to go to bed and never wake up again. "Most of the graduating children from this year have been graduated as a result of the war. Those who are in the Advanced Division of the Academy have already been given Jonin instructors and are taking their tasks of protecting the mountain very seriously."

"…Lord Hokage please tell me you didn't" Kakashi said, the color draining from his face

"The three children who attacked you _together_," Hiruzen started softly, "are given apprenticeships with you as their instructor."

"Lord Hokage, they're barely even eight," Kakashi tried to protest, "They haven't even finished the academy!"

"The children are nine," Hiruzen replied calmly, "and they will spend their mornings in the academy, finishing their training before they are given full genin-ship."

"Seriously lord Hokage?" Kakashi asked in disbelief, "I get the Class Ice-cube, the book warm who _literally_ carries a book around _everywhere_, and the class clown? Are you setting my team up for complete failure?"

"Now, now Kakashi-kun they aren't that bad," Hiruzen sighed, "oh yeah, you three can come in now by the way." Kakashi flinched as the door to the office opened and in walked three familiar looking children. Sasuke had his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes closed, Sakura stood nervously with both arms wrapped around herself with said book missing and Naruto stood at her other side with a glare twisting his face.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki," Hiruzen said with a heavy sigh, "You three will form the apprentice cell number seven, under the instruction of Kakashi Hatake."

…

* * *

…

Deidara sighed as he soared through the sky, heading in the direction of the hidden leaf. He briefly wondered why _he_ had to be the one to pick up some kidnapping lunatic but then remembered that he was the only one who could get to the leaf in under an hour. Plus he could fly, an added bonus.

_Why are we helping that lunatic again?_ Deidara thought as he tried to recall the specifics of his mission.

"_If the girl proves unstable or useless to our plans dispose of her," Leader ordered coldly, "I don't care what Hiden says, we've wasted enough time searching for her and not the Bijuu containers."_

So to hell with the specifics he gets to blow stuff up and not get killed for it. Deidara smirked to himself, his blue eyes glowing brightly as he leaned a little closer to his speeding bird. He really hoped he'd have the opportunity to blow that white-haired idiot sky high maybe that would shut him up for a while.

_This just might be fun after all_

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	19. Chapter 19

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 19: Ruia Pays a visit

Koomahana

_The mind of a perfect man is like a mirror_

_It grasps nothing_

_It expects nothing_

_It reflects, but does not hold_

_Therefore, the perfect man can_

_Act without effort_

**okay, everyone say thank you to **AMMiss **and** Lixx22**!**

**A lot of editing and grammar / spell checking is becouse of them, plus they've given me alternate version of certain scenes I wasn't happy with and as such made them better. they'll most likely continue being my betas for this story :)**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"For the record old man," Naruto started, glaring at Kakashi and receiving a raised eyebrow for the comment

"We hate you too," Sasuke finished disinterestedly, making Hiruzen sigh heavily and Sakura bite her lip to hide her smile

"And for your information sir," Sakura started softly, her hands rubbing nervously over her upper arms, "It's not like I sleep with it." Kakashi stared dully at Sakura, not quite believing that was her biggest complaint out everything he had said about them, then again he really shouldn't be surprised.

"And Sakura-chan doesn't even have her book right now!" Naruto continued loudly in her defense, "Stupid old man!" Sakura bowed her head in shame, her eyes watering and hands trembling, "Ack! I'm sorry Sakura-chan!"

"Idiot," Sasuke drawled, opening one eye to stare coldly at his newly minted teammates, "you know she dropped it saving Nanami."

"I want my book," Sakura whispered, her voice cracking as she sniffed softly, denoting her desire to start crying. Hiruzen snorted and quickly covered it with cough; Kakashi cleared his throat drawing the three's attention onto his person.

"One," Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto, "I'm not old, I'm twenty-four."

"Your hair is white," Naruto pointed out in disbelief, "And crooked"

"So's your nose," Sasuke commented under his breath, earning a livid glare from the blonde and a soft giggle from the Pinkette.

"It's gray not white," Kakashi corrected blandly, "two" He pointed at Sasuke, "That's my line, get your own." Sakura giggled, ignoring the glare given to her by the young heir and the mischievous smirk the blonde gave them. "Three," Kakashi pointed at Sakura, "I bet that book is always within reaching distance. I bet it even sits on your lamp-table when you sleep." Sakura looked completely disgusted and horrified at the response, Sasuke looked amused and Naruto was trying hard not to laugh at her.

"Have you been stalking us?" Sakura asked in horror, her voice cracking slightly, "because that's just wrong! No fully grown man should be following underage children to their homes and watching them sleep!" Naruto's smirk fell straight off his face, his blue eyes were nearly bugging out of his head at the exclamation from the Pinkette and Sasuke looked nearly as bad as the blonde.

"It was an educated guess not stalking," Kakashi drawled, _that's Kohai and his over protective superior_

"That doesn't change the fact that you're creepy!" Sakura replied looking very distressed by the situation, "Lord Hokage I want a team switch!"

"Nice try Sakura-chan but that's not gonna work," Hiruzen smiled at her, glade for the minor distraction. "Now then," Hiruzen glanced back down at the table, his eyes darkening and his smile falling, "I expect you three to work _together_ to pass the academy as soon as possible." The emphasis on the word 'together' wasn't lost on the two boys as they stopped glaring at each other to look at Hiruzen as if he lost his mind, "I also expect you three to obey Kakashi-kun as if his orders are mine, is that understood?"

"Yes sir," the three children said, two sullenly and one cheerfully

"Good, any questions?" Hiruzen asked out of habit as he leaned back over the map

"How's that working for you?" Sakura asked, stepping forward to look at the map herself, "is the map working efficiently?"

"Yeah old man, are the seals working out okay?" Naruto asked as he threw his hands behind his head

"It's working beautifully," Hiruzen smiled at the two before waving a dismissive hand at them, "Now go back to your posts."

"Third face, left eye," Sakura smiled before disappearing in a puff of white smoke

"Eh?! Sakura-chan can do the clone jutsu to?!"

"You marron, everyone in our year was taught at least one advanced form of the clone technique," Sasuke drawled turning for the door and walking out calmly. "Sakura uses advanced Illusion clones, you use Shadow clones," Sasuke grumbled out a soft, 'who ever taught you that needs to be hung' before continuing without caring weather or not his blonde 'teammate' heard him, "And I use explosion clones. Everyone in our year use some kind of advanced form of clones, yours happen to look like crap twenty-four seven. Seriously, didn't you pay attention when you were taught the Shadow clone loser? It looks horrible"

"Bastard! I did too pay attention! That's why I mastered the shadow clone jutsu already!" Naruto snapped, as he followed his newly formed teammate out of the office

"Oh yeah? Prove it loser,"

"You don't belief me?! Bastard!" and the fist fight began

"I'm doomed to suicide aren't I?" Kakashi asked as he followed after the boys with a slump to his posture

"Just be positive and everything will work out okay," Hiruzen replied calmly as Kakashi closed the door behind himself. Hiruzen chuckled as he watched the orange ball of light sullenly follow after two little green lights. He should've told them about the little problem but he didn't want them distressed about the situation. There were something's better left unsaid. Hiruzen's eyes roamed back over the translucent faces of the Hokage Mountain; there he could make out countless yellow dots and dozens of green ones. He knew that he properly shouldn't have passed some of those newly minted Genin but he also knew he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. The apprentice cell 7 was the only team from the fifth years at the academy that would be treated like genin. The apprentice cell 9 he formed were the sixth years Neji Hyūga, Tenten and Rock Lee, and only because they had the recommendation of Maito Gai. The apprentice cell 11 were seventh years named Akane Nohara, Kai Haruno and Makani Uchiha. Almost the entirety of the eighth years were graduated for the sake of the war now taking place.

_Did I make a mistake graduating those children?_ Hiruzen thought as he turned to look back at his desk worriedly. He had a longer than necessary fight with his councilors about passing Shino Aburame, Shikamaru Nara and Hinata Hyūga. Danzo had seemed particularly keen on Shikamaru and Hinata graduating. He seemed to even press the matter of Shino, Shikamaru and Sakura forming a team. However, Homura was on his side for once and agreed with him that Shino, Shikamaru and Hinata were all still too young to graduate. While Sasuke and Naruto had acted to cover their teammate's back, a sign of true genin, both Hinata and Shino had imminently acted to cover their friend's basks. Shikamaru had imminently relied on Shino and proved capable to work with others though preferred Shino and Sakura. It was with regret and great reluctance that Hiruzen agreed to Team Seven's formation—on the condition that they finish the academy first with Kakashi as their instructor. It was the only jab he could make at Danzo but it did pacify the other two councilors and they quickly agreed to his terms, with a three-to-one vote Danzo couldn't refute it.

On that note of young genin, he wasn't sure about Ami Nanami's mental stability for the shinobi life, he knew her life was a hard one; full of death and misery, he didn't want her on the battle field if she was just going to snap. There was also the issue of their enemy wanting to take her, claiming she was the 'child of the rain', which was a different terminology used the first time she was in the village, when she called for 'the true child of Jashin'. He was mildly concerned with the name change, if they used one term for the child for five years, why change it for the following five? Was it possible they were missing something? The woman claimed that the crimson moons during a lunar eclipse are actually count downs until their destruction and that their 'creator would be their destroyer'. He didn't quite understand everything, he felt as if there were pieces of the puzzle he was missing. Almost nothing was adding up, Ami wasn't even born in the appropriate time of the lunar eclipse. She was born in daylight not moonlight. Plus they could trace her family line three generations (further if they bothered to try harder) which didn't match up with what they knew for this 'Hime'. She was supposed to have been born at midnight on the night if a bloody-moon eclipse ten years ago. Plus she was taken from the cult, which meant they had her before and after her birth, but during the attack from waterfall separated the child from them, the reason they were now searching for the girl.

So why did the woman go after Ami? She didn't fit any of the criteria that described the 'Hime'. Could it be that Ami had gotten into close contact with the 'Hime' and that was why the woman fixated on her? But... That would mean that one of the girls in the advanced class was the 'Hime'. The only year that had an abnormal amount of orphans in them was year seven and only three of them were female orphans, plus they all became orphans _after_ the kiyobi attack. Not only that but Kaname, Sayuri and Tenten weren't exactly idiots, it would be difficult at best to interrogate them without them catching on to the problem, especially if they started talking to each other. Plus none of them had expressed any sort of abnormal behavior towards blood or violence. Heck, even Ami was Homophobic—the smell of blood made her sick, thankfully she doesn't faint, but it still makes her turn green. It was the main reason why Ami never drew blood when she fights with people, she makes sure to avoid braking skin at whatever cost, even if it means taking a hit. Her therapists said it was because of the trauma she experienced as a child, waking up with your dead sister over you isn't exactly a sure fire way to keep you sane and watching your father get massacred by a lunatic defiantly didn't help. Ami was all bark and no bite, she fought back verbally because she believes that if anyone gets too close they'll die on her and that's not something she wants to see again. Plus after the number of phycologist's the advanced student's see every week, Hiruzen knew that none of them exhibited the same mental destabilization as the woman they captured years ago.

So then, who was the Hime? Could she really be one of his most promising children?

…

* * *

…

Sakura panted as she whipped her wrist against her forehead, removing some sweat while she was at it. Looking around the dark room, she observed the wounded men and women who fought long and hard to protect the village from the single intruder. So far there were too many wounded for her to count, she didn't know how they all became so wounded but she did know that if they didn't do something soon, they'd run out of shinobi who could fight. Sighing, Sakura turned to look down at the patient she had just finished tending too. She wasn't able to use her chakra to heal him, she would need to conserve her chakra in case she was needed to defend the wounded or if a major emergency patient came in, but at least the man wouldn't be in any pain.

The healing tags she had Naruto create years ago for her were working beautifully, she didn't want to test them out like this but at least the wounded were getting healed, even if it was taking forever to do so. At the time she asked him to make them, Sakura had to offer up her blood as ink (thankfully only a little bit) and donate her chakra so the seals could do what they're meant to do. As Naruto advanced in his sealing ability less and less of her blood was needed to the point that just a drop of it in the center and the seal would know what to do, it didn't even need her chakra anymore, it used whatever was left of the patient's chakra to heal but not use an excessive amount of it. No matter how little chakra the patient had, the seal tag would never need more than a percentage of what was left to heal even the most dangerous and lethal of wounds. Granted the less chakra the person had the longer it took to heal them, so Naruto emphasized her need to place it on someone severely wounded and then offer her chakra up as a substitute for the patient's. In order to store the healing tags on her, Sakura had Naruto create a special seal in her book and put in as many of those healing tags as he could, which later turned out to be a few dozen stacks each containing a few hundred tags. Sakura was glade that Naruto was the only one who knew why she carried her large almost-a-tome-book everywhere with her, it was essentially no different than a storage scroll but in the form of a book. Sakura explained that she didn't want to waste time unwinding a scroll searching for something inside it, so that was why she had gotten the book made for her. Every single piece of paper inside it was Chakra paper, as thick as paper got, fire and water proof, no kind of blade could damage it even if they were charged with chakra and with enough seals inscribed on the leather binding it together to keep it from anyone—who wasn't her or Naruto—from opening it. That was why she carried it everywhere with her, it didn't just have healing tags in it, every page contained something new, and if she didn't have time to flip through its pages searching for something, she could open up to the first page and add her chakra to the seal inscribed there. That seal would then search through every page in the book and bring out what ever item that Sakura needed in under five seconds, appearing just beneath her palm. According to Naruto, her book didn't act any different than a summoning scroll, only instead of going to another world to get an animal, it searched the confines of her book to bring out what she wanted. Apparently, he got the idea for the first page from the summoning scroll that Jiraiya had him sign a few years ago and thought he could incorporate that thought processes into her book. It wasn't what she asked for but she wasn't about to complain, it was a great trick to have if she was in a hurry, which in this situation she was and it was working beautifully.

_It's sad that one person can do so much damage,_ Sakura thought as she twisted in her place and carefully patted the dark locks of one of the civilian children who had gotten caught up in the fight. The little boy would live, missing his right ring finger, but that was better than being dead. He wouldn't be able to perform certain hand signs so he couldn't be a very effective shinobi but that didn't mean there weren't other areas of expertise he couldn't try to get into—if he still desired to be a shinobi. The little boy took in a deep breath and sighed it out at the feel of her hand pressed against his clammy forehead; she frowned a little at the wet locks clueing themselves to his forehead. The last thing she needed was for the boy to come down with an infection. Glancing around the room for any on lookers, Sakura carefully formed a one handed seal and pressed her free hand to the boy's chest. Closing her eyes, Sakura could make out the entirety of the boy's body; she could see nearly every cell that made him who he was. With a heavy sigh, Sakura ended her diagnostic technique and pulled away from him, there was nothing that she could see that was wrong with him. She could only assume that it was the terror of the attack that was getting to him, that or it was the accumulated heat of the room that grew with the number of people admitted inside it.

_I have to get some more help_, Sakura thought rising to her feet and carefully picking her way through the frightened forms of children and the wounded-barely-recovering ninja. _I can't tend to all of these people by myself…_

"Excuse me Miss!" Sakura paused towards the front of the room, a tall middle aged woman with one frantic black eye, the other had a thick bandage around it, had latched one boney little hand around her left upper arm, her other arm was in a sling. "I'm looking for my daughter Miyako, have you seen her?"

"What does she look like?" Sakura asked, turning towards the woman with one hand rising to tighten her hold on the book she still carried with her. It had been hell trying to convince the other kids that she needed to go back for it, eventually they got in an argument loud enough for some chunin to hear and one had left for it just to shut them up. She had no intention of losing her book again, she was just glad it wasn't damaged in the fight with all the elemental ninjutsu that got flung around like they were kunai and shuriken. Elemental ninjutsu was properly the only thing that could destroy it; after all it was the only thing they didn't foresee to be a threat and there for didn't inscribe any seals to protect it from those kinds of attacks.

"She's seven years old, long curly brown hair and warm hazel eyes and—" the woman was cut off as suddenly there was a loud explosion out in the hallway beyond the safety of their door. Sakura's eyes narrowed and she imminently took charge of the situation, even moving to the very front of the room so the people in the room got a better look at her.

"Everyone listen up!" Sakura barked loudly, everyone's eyes snapped to her and their panicked voices fell silent, "I need all the children at the back wall! The civilians and the seriously wounded should be placed against the same wall!" Sakura ordered, waving a hand at the indicated wall, "its cold hearted but they can act as a kind of shield for the children." She ignored the resulting gasps and murmurs; Sakura turned away from the gathered adults, she didn't want to see their disapproving looks. "All wounded shinobi who can still fight are to stand as the last defense for the civilians. The remaining uninjured shinobi please make your way up here, you'll be fighting with me and I'll need as little distractions as posable."

"But you're a child!" one of the mother's gasped in horror, "How can you fight?! We have so many adults here who—"

"I may be a child but I was trained for this," Sakura interrupted, "As of this morning, I became a Kunochi of this village. It is now my responsibility to protect everyone in my village." Okay, that was a lie, but they didn't need to know the details, they only needed to trust her.

"How long have you been in the academy?" one of the injured men asked as he hobbled his way towards her. "You look as if you're only eight or nine…"one of the other medics rose to his feet and placed a restraining hand on the man's shoulder, shaking his head the medic silently told the man to go to the back wall with other seriously injured.

"In three days I'll be nine years old," Sakura answered with a heavy sigh, "but if it makes you feel any better I am the top Kunoichi of my generation. The third highest ranked student in the advanced division of the shinobi academy, year five. My name is Sakura Haruno," She took a few steps closer to the door of the room. She refused to look at anyone else in the room. The adults were right, she was just a child, she should be the one cowering in the corner looking at the adults for hope but she wasn't, she was the one standing guard. This room was her room. It was her responsibility, the survival of everyone in the room depended entirely on her. That red eyed Jonin was counting on her to protect these people and she wasn't about to disappoint someone who believed in her.

"Please do as you've been instructed," Sakura said coldly, lifting her book so she could clutch it to her chest with both arms. It wasn't just a weapon, it was also her security blanket. As long as she had it, she would be able to defend these people. "Wounded to the back please." The room fell silent. She could feel their eyes on her back so she took a deep breath and straightened her posture, leveling her eyes to stare determined at the closed door. She concentrated entirely on that door and the sounds of battle coming from beyond it, she would need to concentrate on the fight and remember that soon, she and this room full of defenseless people would have to fight for their lives. It suddenly felt so real. This wasn't just another game to play. This wasn't just another test to ace. This was war.

"No need to be so tense," a voice whispered. Sakura flinched slightly at the soft whisper, her eyes widening as she turned to look up at the tall man beside her. Warm brown eyes smiled reassuringly down at her, his tanned face was relaxed and slipped into a lazy smile. "My name is Shimayu Nara and I've heard of you little Sprite," Sakura felt her eyes widen at the older man. A Jonin knew of her. How?

"I saw you fight at the training grounds, I know what you're capable of," He smiled encouragingly at her, "It would honor me if you became my second in command." Sakura blushed softly as she turned her attention back at the door and the growing silence beyond it, she didn't know how to respond to something like that. She couldn't help but feel that the silence was a bad omen but all she could think of right now was that she was going to be second command in a real battle.

She didn't know whether to feel elated or nervous

"But...why?" she felt like an idiot asking such a simple question. All the other shinobi in that room were heavily injured. They could barely stand, much less fight. She knew the other adults wouldn't listen to her and would look to another, higher ranked, adult to take their orders. It was natural, the role of the leader always fell to the Jonin if there was no Jonin then the leader would be the strategist of the team or the one with the most experience with the situation and Sakura did not fit any of the criteria. As a child of nine years, even one that grew up in the Advanced Class of the Shinobi Academy. Sakura has had only experienced simulations and practices, none of which were even close to the level of threat surrounding her at present.

"You're a Genin now and it's good to have someone to bring in new ideas everyone now and then. The shinobi here already have a rigid mindset on what they could do, while you on the other hand have no prior experience to a situation like this. That means that you'll be able to bring in some fresh ideas," Shimayu chuckled, crouching low beside her, hands coming together in his family's signature technique, "I'll stand by you—" Sakura heard a scream and a thump against the wooden door. Her hands trembled as she clutched her book just that little bit closer to herself. The most notorious Jonins and Anbu in Konoha have been teaching her for years. She could not disappoint her sensei now. She was the guardian of this room. She was now responsible for twenty-three children, forty civilians, ten Chunin and one Jonin. It was her job as second in command to focus on defense while the commander focused on offence. She knew her job. She knew what she was supposed to do. She did not have the luxury to be scared. As a proud shinobi of Konoha, it was her responsibility to lay her life down to protect everyone who called Konoha home.

"Everyone get ready!" Sakura ordered, sliding her left foot in front of her and carefully setting her book on the floor to the left beside herself, her now free hands slide up to form several hand signs. Just as the Chunin in the room shifted to the front, the door exploded into a cloud of dust, sending sharp wooden shrapnel into the room. "Earth style: Mud wall!" Sakura screamed barely managing to slam both hands into the floor in time to stop the debris of rock from reaching the civilians and wounded. She went so far as losing her book in the process— not that she minded having to do that, she was just glad she made it in time to save them from the majority of the explosion. However, that left her with one Jonin and two Chunin, the only ones close enough to not get blocked out by her mud wall. Oops.

"You're fast little Sprite," Shimayu smirked at her through the thick dust trying to suffocate them. "I didn't know you knew Elemental ninjutsu."

"I'm not supposed to use it," Sakura replied with a cough, hoping that Shimayu would assume her coughing was due to the amount of dust in the air and not because the earth ninjutsu had taken its toll on her. "Anyone hurt?" Sakura asked as she patted around blindly for her book, Shimayu was kind enough to subtly kick it towards her before she started to look like an idiot.

"Everyone's fine," someone informed her with a heavy, dry sounding cough, "What was that?"

"The enemy," Sakura answered coldly, slipping her book into her arms, glaring coldly at the hole in the wall where the door once stood. The men in the room looked and stared stupefied at the almost demonic looking figure which had one of their men clasped by the back of his jacket with one hand. The woman stepped forward and everyone watched in horror as the man she carried grunted once before he turned into dust, leaving behind nothing but his clothes. The woman walked forward, her scythe braced against her shoulder, and tossed the lighter green jacket towards Sakura and Shimayu. The woman recognized them from the fight at the training grounds. She had seen the girl aid her target in her escape. Speaking of which, she was sure that she was following the signature of her target, not this tiny little Pinkette no bigger than a twig but there was something strange about her. The way her green eyes glowed in the faint darkness, the way the light bounced off her faintly pink hair, her too pale porcelain-white skin… it all reminded her of someone but she couldn't quite remember who.

There was something even stranger about her chakra signature, faint and difficult to read like the wind, as if she kept it suppressed so no one could possibly locate her exact location. What a strange little thing to notice, and an even stranger habit for a child so young, perhaps she was reading too much into the girl. Either way, she was a vital source of information for the girl her sister had been keeping close to. Her sister had never missed her mark so the purple haired girl had to be their Hime. Therefore, the Pinkette was just a means to an end, a key to her target, the clue she needed to her princess. After which she can kill the girl and escape with her god's daughter.

"Give me Ami or end up like him," the blood stained woman ordered coldly.

…

* * *

…

Genma sighed heavily as he flipped through the files of the three girls he found in the graduation testing field. Umeko was already a chunin in terms of chakra sensing and identification. Riko was chunin in terms of her weapon's attacks and Ami was at least chunin level with her Taijutsu. The young violet was one of the few academy students who could somewhat keep up with Gai in his Physical Ed classes. Out of the other two girls, Ami's file seemed to have the least amount of paper work but also seemed to have the most to say. Her sister died protecting her when she was five, her father was killed when she was seven, and her aunt had some serious injuries that could only be explained as her father beating her aunt. The only good news was that Ren, Ami's aunt, seemed to be seeing a man and was steadily moving on with her life. Everything else in the purple haired girl's file was all school related. Everything from her average grades since she was six years old to her medical records, even a few notes from a phycologist she met just after her sister's and father's death.

"Hay mister," Genma glanced over at the voice, staring blandly at the little girl sitting up in the hospital bed, staring back at him with dull brown eyes, "Where's my aunt? She should be here…" Ami looked around the pale room, her facile expression blank of all expression, her eyes flat as if she were blind.

"Your aunt was evacuated to the safe houses," Genma reassured, turning towards her, "Do you have any shinobi relatives?"

"Kamayama-san says that the Nanami family has several shinobi," Ami replied coldly, her eyes traveling and falling on the two other kids in the room, both asleep in their own beds. "They're hurt," Ami whispered, a flicker of worry showing itself for the first time since she woke up, "did she… did that woman touch them?" Ami asked, turning to look seriously at Genma, fear lacing her voice, nearly making it crack; it was the first sing of emotion he's seen since she woke up.

"No she didn't," Genma answered, his eyes narrowing slightly as the purple haired girl let out a breath of air, as if relieved by the information. "What would've happened if they did?" Ami stiffened at the question; her brown eyes sharpening on him like daggers held at the ready. "Do you know that woman?" Ami stubbornly kept her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing further as she down right glared at him. "Do you—"

"AUNTY!" Ami screamed as she leaped from the bed and dived for the window, Genma nearly fell out of his seat at the scream. He quickly jumped to his feet before he fell and hurried to the nearest window, slamming it open before Ami could untangle herself from her IV. "Aunty!" Ami shouted again, diving for the edge of the window, "Over here!" in the road before the hospital, Genma could see a tall and elegant woman dressed in a thin white dress. The sound of Ami's voice had the woman snapping around like a pin, her hair flipping around her like a whip and then the woman was through the gates of the hospital and running up the hospital wall like she was slingshot towards her niece.

"AMI!" Ren screamed diving through the hospital window to embrace the purple haired girl; Ami gave a chocked chuckle as she wrapped her arms around Ren. The woman continued to crouch on the windowsill; her white clothed arms trembling as she all but cradled the little girl in her arms. Genma stared wide-eyed at them, mostly because he didn't know Ami could smile, most of her academy instructors thought that she was only capable of shark-like smirks. The other part was because there was a red haired Anbu agent balanced on the hospital wall just beside the window, one hand braced on the windowsill and the other was wrapped around the hilt of a sword strapped to his back.

_Who…_ Genma stared wide-eyed at the Anbu agent, his face paling as he took in the artfully crafted fox face, _who are these people?_ It was the first time Genma thought that he should look deeper into the Nanami family, especially a little deeper into Ren Nanami. It wasn't normal for a civilian to have an Anbu escort; there was something wrong with their story. Ren whispered into Ami's ear, soft enough that no one else could hear her. Genma took a step forward when he saw Ami's eyes tear up, her pretty face turning stark white and her eyes widening as they had done in the training grounds. Ren pulled back and smiled bitterly at Ami, she ran one hand through Ami's hair and caressed her cheek.

"I will protect you," Ren whispered, Ami looked like she was ready to protest but Ren was already pushing herself out of the window and let herself fall head first towards the ground.

"Aunty!" Ami screamed, pushing herself to look over the edge. Genma quickly restrained her before she could follow the curly-midnight haired woman, he looked down at the ground, expecting to see a bloody body but he saw nothing. The dirt and grass far below was completely undisturbed, as if man had never touched it before. Ami hick-upped, fat tears rolling down her cheeks before her knees buckled and she fell. Genma barely caught her in time, forcing himself to fall to the floor with her, cradling her to his body as she sobbed uncontrollably. Seeing this terrified version of the bull headed little girl he read about, Genma wondered if perhaps his Hokage was right in preventing Ami from being a true shinobi.

"Aunty," Ami sobbed, trembling in Genma's hold. The brunet gritted his teeth and did what his mother had sometimes did when he was small and had a nightmare, he ran his fingers through her long purple locks, rubbed at her back and whispered that everything would be okay. And when he was sure that the purple haired little girl was fast asleep, he carefully lifted her from the floor and just as gently set her back into her bed. Genma sighed as he covered Ami in her hospital blanket and replaced her IV. Finalizing his decision, Genma walked out to the center of the room, turning only to observe each of the wounded girls for a moment before walking out the door, his decision clear. It was time for him to convince his Hokage to allow him to teach the girls, even if it is only once a week or even having to take up a placement at the Academy. So long as he could teach them, he would be happy, his friend died trying to protect them, so he was going to make it up to the man by teaching them everything he knew.

"I will protect you," Genma whispered to himself, he didn't notice how a pair of clear violet eyes blinked open before the owner sighed heavily and rolled over in her bed at the farthest end

…

* * *

…

"Give Ami to you?" Sakura asked, her voice softer than a whisper. The woman turned to the pinkette, her silver eyes gleaming eerily in the half light of the room. "Ami Nanami is a child of Konohagakure," Sakura growled, crouching low against the floor, even going so far as placing her left hand on the floor before her. "No Leaf Shinobi will ever sell out one of their own even under the threat of death!"

"You know where she is?" the woman asked, tilting her head to the side, letting her ratty black curls fall in her face, obscuring it from view. "Tell me and I'll let you live." Sakura jerked slightly at the offer, the possibility of surviving this blood stained woman. She could see even Shimayu consider the offer. She knew they were out classed on a level that was truly unbelievable, the woman was Kage-level easily and their strongest member was a Jonin. Their situation was laughable. Sakura didn't need to be a genius to know that the odds weren't in their favor. Even if they told the woman, she would still kill them. She knew because she could see it in the woman's eyes. That cold detachment, the calculative look, the contemplative tilt to her head, the blood staining her entire body, the crimson liquid dripping hauntingly from her weapon of choice…

…

_He stood tall in the blood soaked path, surrounded in the shadows of the tall empty buildings that were surrounding them. The moonlight shining down on them seemed like a haunting touch of a ghost, caressing their skin with ice cold fingers. His head band was held in one hand, showing his allegiance to the leaf, his katana was still stationed in someone's chest and he was turned away from her, ignoring her very existence. As if he didn't care that she had just turned the corner and witnessed him kill another man, or that she could see the bodies of three others at his feet._

…

This blood soaked woman would not let any of them escape alive, of that, Sakura was sure.

"That's a load of bull," Sakura snarled, raising her left hand into the air. "I'll die before I tell you!" Sakura slammed her fist down into the floor creating fissures in the floor and offsetting the woman's balance. Through the smoke and rumble of the room, Sakura burst forward with a speed that was only matched by Shimayu's flitting shadow stitches (He was too busy tangling up the scythe to really curse at her for being so reckless). Like a flawless marionette, Sakura danced around Shimayu's shadows while he kept the scythe away from her. Together they kept the woman moving, forcing her go on defense. However, it seemed too easy and Sakura began to feel uneasy with the seemingly effortless dodging of the woman, she felt as if she were trying to catch a flower petal dancing on the wind high over her head.

_**Something's wrong**_, a voice in the very back in her mind whispered urgently, _**it's not right… **_ swiping out at the woman with one blue glowing palm, quickly following it up with a backwards crescent kick. Just as Sakura spun around, lifted her leg high into the air, her eyes returning to the woman's face once more, Sakura saw a smirk on the woman's features. _**RETREAT!**_ the scream echoed in her mind, nearly doubling her sight with its volume alone, her foot retracted automatically, slamming into her own rear as she tried to stumble away from black haired demon. the woman slowed down to stare at Sakura with silver glowing eyes. Her eyes looked as if someone had taken a black bowl and placed mercy inside, spinning the bowl around and around, letting the mercy move against the blackness of the bowl until the darkness absorbed it. Seeing the woman's right hand move towards her, Sakura gasped and quickly jumped away. However she was unbalanced and didn't go far, Sakura was more than glad to feel Shimayu's shadows wrap around her and yank her away just as the woman's scythe slammed into the ground.

"Thank you, Shimayu-san," Sakura said as she skidded to a halt beside him, his right hand still gripped her book tightly, apparently he didn't let go of it when she dropped it to engage the woman. Sakura carefully took her book and held it close to her chest, the last thing she needed was for the woman to get her book. That would be very, very bad. _**that was too close...** I need to pay close attention, I don't want to turn to ash because of a minor mistake!_

"What happened, Sprite?" Shimayu asked with narrowed eyes, watching the woman jerk her weapon out of the floor, the air seemingly twisting around her as she did so. "You had the perfect strike, why did you stop?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura answered almost soft enough that the older man couldn't hear her, however he did and he stared worriedly at her, as if he thought she was going to collapse into a pile of ash any moment. "Not one of my previous strikes made contact," Sakura said quickly, noticing Shimayu's look of distress, "she avoided them all." She added, not wanting to be demoted or removed from the little team they made, although the current team certainly wasn't in her favor, she couldn't afford to make a fool of herself.

"So?" a Chunin asked as he leveled two kunai at the woman. "Your point?" he seemed to be smirking at some really bad pun he just made, however Sakura was oblivious to it and Shimayu simply didn't care for the man's bad jokes.

"She was going to let me kick her," Sakura answered, her eyes narrowing as the woman tilted her head towards them in an almost curious manner. "She was smirking…" **_ watch, memorize, strategist, counter and destroy! you must win! _**she couldn't afford a lost now, despite being nine, she was still responsible for the lives of those fighting beside her, if she can't protect them then how can she protect her teammates and friends?

"She wanted you to hit her?" Shimayu asked doubtfully, brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Why would she…" Shimayu trailed off as he watched the woman raise her weapon, swing it behind her, and then sent it flying through the air as if it was a Frisbee. "Get down!"

…

* * *

…

Itachi thought about sending a message to Konoha but he knew his messenger would never make it in time. He could only pray that his brother would not be harmed and the village wouldn't suffer too much. There was, after all, only so much he could do and his few opportunities to disappear without suspicion were getting fewer and fewer. Itachi turned to look back at the house that was 'given' to him by Hiden, inside there still remained the broken possessions of the occupants. The house itself was fine, being high in the trees suited him, but the amount of children toys and the pictures of the family that once lived there dredged up bad memories. He could almost hear his little brother calling him 'aniki' and running through the house looking for him, wanting to practice his shuriken jutsu or something.

"Hay Itachi!" he blinked at his name and turned to look at the ground more than fifty feet below him, there stood his smirking partner, "you gonna come down for lunch or do I have to bring it up to ya?"

"…lunch?" Itachi asked blandly one eyebrow raising, he wasn't aware any of them could cook

"Yeah! One of Hiden's friends made it!" He was not going to eat anything _they_ made and that was final

"I'll go tell 'em to go to hell!" Kisame laughed loudly, having read Itachi's thoughts, "I got us some dinner at the last village I stopped in, it's some good stuff! You might like it!" Why did he feel as if his blue partner just brought back the famous poisons puffer fish from his home village for dinner and expected him to eat it? "It just might make you look more like a man!" Kisame laughed as he disappeared out of sight, presumably going towards the other's camp. Itachi stared dully at his partner's back for a moment before he disappeared from the large tree branch he sat on; he'll have to go hunting if he's going to eat tonight. His partner's cooking could kill even Hiden if the man was dumb enough to eat it—unfortunately that man was smart enough to avoid Kisame's cooking like it was the plague.

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 14**


	20. Chapter 20

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 20: Ruia Vs Ren, Who is Who?

Koomahana

_One cannot know how_

_Splendid the day has been_

_Until the night has come_

**I did a little editing, just a little, mostly scene rearranging, don't sweat it**

**B****y the way, I don't know if I specified this, but it's still the same day as the graduation test… I'll put it in here somewhere…**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

She took a deep breath, letting the warm air of her home fill her lungs, her arms wound tightly around the man carrying her. She relaxed against his back, setting her cheek against the warmth of his shoulder, breathing in the familiar smell of rust and metal. The man holding her tightened his hold on her legs, silently telling her that he still had her and wasn't going to let go of her any time soon.

"We'll get to her in time," he whispered, his voice silky soft behind his mask, "We won't let anything happen to her." Ren smiled bitterly at the promise, she wasn't sure if they could beat her sister. While she grew weak, her twin had grown strong.

If she fought her sister, she was going to die

"Kameyama-san," she whispered into his ear, "would you believe me, if I said 'I love you'."

"Course," Kameyama whispered to her, "I didn't spend the last five years with you for nothing." She could hear the smile in his voice but she also knew that the question worried him, it's not like she said the words every day, not even to Ami, so she could understand his worry. But she still had to fight, she had to protect Ami—that was her mission, everything else was just circumstances. Or in this case, a handicap, she really did love Kameyama and for a few moments that morning she was torn between her duty to Ami and her love for him. However, the course of the guardian wasn't easy, she was assigned to protect Ami; her own selfish desires be damned, Ami came first.

"When we get to Imoto," she whispered, snuggling against his neck one last time, fighting off the urge to let at least one tear out, "Don't interfere."

"I can—"

"_Don't_ interfere," She said a little harder, he sighed in response. He had no intention of letting her go to her death, he pledge himself to be her husband and a husband protects his wife no matter what. "Kameyama-san," She growled in his ear, "Promise me."

"No," He said stubbornly, "I swore to protect you, deal with it."

…

* * *

…

Ami took a deep breath and pushed herself up in her bed, her purple eyes immediately going to land on the two girls laying on the other side of the curtains. She knew full well they were awake and most likely heard what was said earlier, if they were the girl's she was allied with in the exams she might've bothered to sit them down and explain things further with them but they weren't, she hated these two particular girls. They were numbers five and seven, Hinata Hyūga and Ino Yamanaka (respectively) and well known best friends of number three, Sakura Haruno. Yes, she hated these two girls almost as much as she hated Sakura, however, she knew better than to underestimate them. Ami wasn't aware that either one had been wounded in the attack on the training grounds, but she wouldn't be surprised if Ino had exhausted her reserves and Hinata had over exerted her muscles—_again_.

"I know you're awake," Ami drawled, staring at the white curtain that showed the shadow of a laying form. "Are you going to start talking or be silent little lambs?" The shadow didn't move and she heard no sound of movement from the farther one, Ami narrowed her eyes and she let out a low growl. "Don't follow me," Ami ordered coldly, ripping the IV from her arm and getting out of her bed. Ami hesitated at her window, glancing back at the shadow on her curtain separating her bed from her neighbors. The shadow still hadn't moved. Nodding her head courtly, Ami stepped up onto the windowsill and jumped to the nearest tree, quickly retreating from the hospital and heading in the direction of her home.

In the room Ami left behind, Ino and Hinata both opened their eyes and stared at each other, both looking as lost as the other. They were nine years old and had just witnessed the start of the Fourth Great War, neither one of them knew what to do. They were nine for crying out loud and like Hotaru-sensei said so many years ago, they were going to be sent out to the front lines. It was at this moment that both girls realized what their old teacher tried to teach them, why he memorized the number of years of war and the number of years of peace between each war.

Peace is temporary… war is inevitable

…

* * *

…

Shimayu tackled Sakura out of the way, his shadows reaching out and pushing his other teammate out of the way at the same time. The scythe sailed past, removing a few hairs from Shimayu's spikey ponytail, before slamming straight through Sakura's mud wall and continuing on through to the other side of the room, burying itself into the hard limestone rock there. Shimayu coughed and carefully moved himself off Sakura, looking inside the other room just to make sure that no one was hurt. To his surprise the other room had a secondary door, leading to another room which led to another hallway on the other side. Not one soul was inside the original room.

_She erected the mud wall and took down a portion of lime stone to create a second exit?_ Shimayu thought, his eyes widening as he turned to look at Sakura in surprise. _Or did the Chunin who were trapped do it?_ However, instead of seeing the young nine-year-old-to-be, he found himself staring at a racing porcelain white foot aiming for his face. He tried to duck out of the way but he really didn't need to when a blast of wind slammed into his body, forcing him away from the woman and to the far left wall. Shimayu coughed as he was slammed into the wall, he slid to the floor and coughed again, his sight blurring slightly as he stared at the almost confused looking woman standing with one foot still raised in the air.

_Damn it_, Shimayu thought, coughing as he pushed his body back onto his feet, crouching low on the floor, _I didn't see that one coming._ Shimayu raised his left hand to wipe at his face, only to stop when he saw something gray staining the back of his hand. Blinking dumbly at the almost ashy consistency of the strange thing, Shimayu turned to his left looking for the source of the gray powder. Beside him was a pile of the gray powder, a pair of shoes and possibly a pair of black khakis nearly completely buried in said powder. Not quite understanding what it was (or perhaps not wanting to believe in it), Shimayu raised his eyes and stared blankly, then in horror when realization finally set in, at the green jacket pinned to the stone wall. The green flank jacket was held dead center by a sharp two foot long blade, the hilt of which appeared to be something thick and black. Following its course, Shimayu found his eyes traveling back towards the woman. She jerked on the black cord and the blade returned to her. Grabbing the blade easily she quickly did the same to the other end of the rope and again, her scythe returned to her person as if it had never left her.

_Oh s***_, Shimayu thought, watching the woman turn towards him, the only thing seeable in her mass of ratty black hair were her silver glowing eyes. She literally had the wind acting like a shield for her body, that's why she dodged all of Sprite's earlier attacks! She was gaining the time it took to gather the necessary amount of chakra and wind current it would need for the shield to activate.

"What's the matter boy?" the woman asked as she stepped towards him, bracing her scythe against her shoulder, "You look scared." That might've been because he was. He was so scared that for the first time since he was a Genin, he was focused entirely on his enemy, not even bothering to focus on his teammates. The woman walked towards him with a lethal, predatory, kind of grace. Her hips swayed as if the weight of her scythe meant nothing, her hair weaved back and forth, her silver glowing orbs looking demonic with her face completely hidden behind her mass of thick black hair

"I want Ami," the woman said raising her scythe into the air, the light of the torches from the hall gleamed eerily against the edge of its sharp blade. "I will," her eyes were blank of all emotion, as if she didn't care about killing people, "take her back." She went to bring the scythe down, Shimayu could do nothing more than watch as the blade aimed for his neck inched ever so closer.

"Futon: Wind shield!" Just as the scythe was inches away from Shimayu's throat the blade hit some kind of resistance, the woman's eyes widened and she put more force behind her blade, trying her best to cut through the defense. Shimayu watched in amazement as a burst of power forced the woman's weapon away from him, even going to so far as pushing the woman back a few steps. The woman stared down at Shimayu, the first real look of emotion flashing in her eyes. The look of surprise was quickly followed by a look of pure fury. Slowly the woman turned to look at Sakura, her silver glowing eyes glared coldly as she watched the girl scramble to her feet and hurry towards the door.

"Ugly old hag!" Sakura screamed as she threw a tagged kunai at the woman, using the resulting explosion to force herself out the hole in the wall. Once the smoke was cleared, the woman stood with her scythe braced in front of her, using it as a shield. Her eyes opened and she glanced around the room, seeing the men gone she looked towards the golden glowing hall, her eyes narrowed and she spun her scythe around to brace it against her back.

"Let the games begin, little Leaf."

…

* * *

…

Kakashi mentally cursed as he raced through the trees of the village. The two boys surprisingly close on his heels, refusing to be left behind. Maybe the Advance Division was a good idea if it could spout out Genin like these. The previous flair of chakra had alerted them to the danger at the safety bunker and every Jonin in the vicinity was already converging on them but the bunkers were so massive it could take all day to find out if anyone was hurt. Unless she just slaughtered everyone and didn't bother cleaning up the trail, in that case it would take only a few hours. He was beginning to fear the worst when he spotted the previously secret entrance of the bunker bathed in fresh blood. Both of the boys behind him looked sick, Sasuke especially look ready to heave out his stomach. Kakashi had no doubt that he was remembering the blood and gore of the massacre while Naruto on the other hand had most likely never seen so much blood in his life and was most likely in shock. He wasn't sure which child he was supposed to worry about more so he decided to console both. He just hoped that they wouldn't be like the little whiny brats he had to protect occasionally and suddenly burst into tears, crying for their mothers. Hatake Kakashi was not good with tears, at all.

"Alright boys, take a look and move on," Kakashi ordered. "This is what it means to be shinobi. We live for our village and we die for our village." The boys stared at the blood smears in horror, terror filling them. "You ready?" Kakashi asked as he turned to look up at the Hokage faces, Sakura's words ringing in his mind. "Sakura needs our help, we have no time to spare." Kakashi turned a hard coal eye onto the boys and repeated at a harder tone. They were apprentice-shinobi it was time they started to acting like shinobi. "Are you ready?"

"Do we have a choice?" Sasuke asked, shaking his head as if he could physically shake his memories out, all the while taking deep steadying breaths— a remnant from the one therapy session he was forced to go to. Kakashi was starting to wonder if they should've forced him to go to more of those sessions. Perhaps that would've made him more emotionally stable and less prone to nightmares and flashbacks. Never let it be said that Hatake Kakashi was lazy. He did read the files he received. He just couldn't be bothered to correct anyone on the assumption that he had them burnt immediately.

"Yeah!" Naruto belted out, his face splitting into a smile and his eyes gleaming brightly. "Sakura-Chan needs our help! We can't abandon her after all the work we did to beat you, Old Man!" Kakashi smirked and bobbed his head in approval, completely ignoring the part about him being old. (He was only in his early twenties!) He turned back to the faces, his eyes narrowing in on the Sandaime's left eye.

"Both of you get to the main courtyard at the bunkers," Kakashi ordered, readying himself to jump, "I'll meet you there, hopefully with Sakura."

"We'll have to take the stairs, it'll be safer and if they're any civilian's lagging behind we can escort them to the top." Sasuke said, observing the four mile high cliff face in front of him, before dropping back down to lock onto his gray haired teacher, "What if you don't find her?"

"Clearly we find her," Naruto rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Very good," Kakashi smirked and promptly disappeared, reappearing a hundred feet up the cliff face. He knew the boys would be taking their own route to the top. Grabbing a chunk of earth, Kakashi flipped up onto the stone left eye lid with a kunai in hand, ready to attack or defend. To his horror, he found the hall bathed in blood and fire from the fallen torches, the floor was covered in dust and torn clothing belonging to the ten Chunin protecting the closest room. Jumping in, Kakashi hurried to the hole where a door once stood. To his surprise, he found the room to be half the size it was originally with a two foot tall, one foot wide hole in the erected mud wall. The other, by far lager, room had its back wall broken to show another room and a door to the hall on the other side. Someone must have erected a mud wall to protect the civilians and left a Chunin on the other side to break down the wall into the next room. A clean and efficient way to evacuate the civilians without anyone getting harmed in the processes. He was also pretty sure that particular tactic was part of the Advance class' syllabus. Now he had to find his most elusive student, should he break down the rest of the wall and follow the feint scent inside or follow the stronger scent residing in the room he stood in?

_Stronger scent first_, Kakashi decided as he turned to observe the partially destroyed room, at least if he was wrong he'll know she was safe. To his far left, close to the junction of the mud wall and the limestone wall, he swore he could see a faint shimmer over the corner. Gripping the edge of his head band, Kakashi revealed his Sharingan eye. He was relieved to find a 'Hide me' genjutsu, which was definitely part of the syllabus on genjutsu, hopefully that was his missing student and not another Advance class student with a knack for genjutsu. With a sigh, Kakashi applied a burst of chakra to the section and revealed what was hidden. To his surprise, he found the familiar face of one knocked out Jonin by the name of Shimaya.

"Shimaya-san, wake up," Kakashi ordered as he shook the man's shoulder. "Wake up." The man groaned as his head rolled to the right, revealing a kunai knife embedded into the limestone wall up to the hilt. On the end of the loop, attached by a thin string, was what appeared to be a talisman.

"Shimaya-san, where's Sakura?" The man groaned again, an inaudible word slipping past his chapped lips. "Sakura Haruno, SPRITE!"

"spr...ight?" Shimaya slurred, his vision blurring as he tried to concentrate on the man in front of him

"Yes, Sprite, where is she?" Kakashi asked, beginning to panic. Shimaya's vision blackened before clearing as he tried to remember what happened after the explosion that knocked him out.

"F…fi…ight…ing,"

"Fighting?" Kakashi questioned, his pulse increasing and his black eye widening. "Fighting who?" Shimaya's head rolled back towards the kunai, forcing Kakashi to grab the weapon and jerked it out of the wall before the passed out man could harm himself. Feeling a pull on his chakra, Kakashi looked down at the kunai in surprise. It was a familiar seal, one that protected the holder so long as they supply the chakra to power them. That must be why Shimaya was so tired, his chakra was being forced to keep up a technique he was unaware of so he was unconsciously fighting it. However, with the knowledge and acceptance of the technique, it appeared that the seal needed less chakra to use as compared to forcefully taking the chakra. Naruto had a knack for sealing. He must've given this tag to Sakura.

_Smart brat_, Kakashi thought with a smirk, perhaps this teaching gig won't be so bad. His new students were shaping up to be quite interesting. Kakashi gave one last check of the room, quickly releasing another Chunin from the clutches of the strange kunai and seal. The man had carved out 'sprite' on the stone floor, then pointed the blade towards the exit at a slight angle, telling Kakashi which way to go. Kakashi silently thanked the unconscious man and quickly took off down the hall; his eyes narrowing as the scent of his student steadily grew stronger.

Along with the scent of blood

Kakashi glanced at the gouges in the stone walls, noting that all of them were made by long sweeps of a familiar weapon and splashes of bright crimson. Feeling dread settle in his stomach, Kakashi managed to push himself faster through the half-lit halls, he didn't stop running even after the smell of smoke and sulfur filled his nose. He skidded and took a turn almost before he finished stopping, ignoring the stench of burning flesh and the black smears coating the stonewalls; signaling a high grade explosive was used. The darkness and length it had over the entirety of the hall reaching all the way to the exit, his student must have used the emergency explosive to get rid of the woman. Kakashi slid to a stop half way down the hall, kneeling he brushed his fingers across the edge of the pile of ash that had two clean foot prints in the center; a few dark fibers sticking out of the ash, frayed and burnt. This told him that the woman may have been caught by the explosion but she wasn't killed by it, strange because the explosive was strong enough to incinerate most people.

…

* * *

…

Sakura panted as she spun on her heel to take the nearest sharpest turn she could manage in the three way intersection of the underground tunnel system. Her sharp turn saved her neck but severed five hairs from her bags when the scythe flew inches past her face, the woman further down hall smirked viciously as the weapon barreled through the wall. Sakura didn't waste any time finishing her spin and tearing down the hall as fast as she could, her eyes narrowing to counter the wind resistance. Behind her in the near perfect darkness of the tunnels, she heard the earth crack and tumble, filling in the hall so no one could follow.

"Give it up little girl," the woman taunted, "You'll never win against me."

"It's not about winning," Sakura smirked to herself, her eyes glinting proudly as she spotted her brightly shining exit. The woman seemed to have sensed the difference, her silver glowing orbs narrowing as she caught sight of the exit and the near clever plan of the girl she chased. "It's about surviving!" Sakura shouted, spinning on her heel, facing the woman as she sailed past her, forcing Sakura to bend back words to avoid the scythe willing and able to cut her in half.

"What?" the woman hissed more than questioned, struggling to stop in time to turn to face the clever pinkette

"To slow!" Sakura smirked, throwing a kunai with her feet as she went head first through the stone floor. The woman watched as the simple black knife sailed through the air, her twirling scythe seemed too slow to counter the simple weapon, the knife sailed a hairs width past her blade and collided with the stone ceiling. She realized too late that the spark was all the girl needed. The stone surrounding them was lased in a kind of liquid explosive that seemed docile when mixed with the lime stone halls but combined with a spark from that stone and things got messy. The hallway echoed with the woman's screams as gaseous fire filled and billowed out of the one exit. The Anbu agents nearby all converged on the echoing and trembling darkened hall, well aware that their enemy had infiltrated their safety-barracks and was attacking one of their own. Once the flames died down and nothing but wisps of smoke filtered out of the entrance, the closest teams all looked at each other, as if wondering who would enter the darkness first. Suddenly all of them jumped to the highest point near them when the center of the ground budged and cracked as if ready to burst like a volcano. They each stiffened as a pale fist punctured the earth, only to relax as the pale fist was followed by a head of pink hair. Sakura coughed and wheezed as she struggled to pull herself out of the earth, her eyes spinning as she soon gave up trying to pull herself out of the lime stone structure and just flopped uselessly against the stone floor of the courtyard.

"N…never," Sakura stammered, her eyes spinning, "A…a-again…"

"Earth style: hiding like a mole," one of the Anbu muttered in surprise

"So she really is one of the little geniuses?" another asked tilting his bone-masked face towards his superior in curiosity

"With her hair color she must be the famed sprite the academy adores so much," a kunochi grumbled, "the girl who never loses her third place to anyone. And she refuses to compete for the higher ranks because they're occupied by friends of hers."

"_She's_ the sprite?"

"I thought she was older?"

"Me too," several of the Anbu members whispered amongst themselves, watching the strange pink haired girl as she tried to make her surroundings stop spinning so she could crawl the rest of the way out of her hole. Two Anbu jumped down, both ready to help the girl out of the earth, one stooped to lift one of Sakura's arms over his shoulders and the other fell to the ground in two pieces. The man gasped and pushed Sakura away from him just in time to avoid the second swing of the scythe, he scrambled away from her and just barely managed to avoid a kunai to the neck.

"Damn it," the man hissed, watching the weapon jerk itself out of the earth and fly into the air before shrinking back into the smoking hole of the hallway. _She survived that?_ The man thought as he gripped the kunai in his shoulder, taking deep breathes and gritting his teeth as he slowly pulled the weapon out of his left shoulder. Out of the smoking hall a dark figure raced forward like a shooting star, the scythe raised high into the air. The man's eyes widened as he realized that Sakura was pushing herself up, her eyes wide as she stared at the woman aiming to cleave her head off.

"Look out!" he screamed inching forward even though he knew he'd never make it in time

…

* * *

…

He smirked as he saw the walls of his destination, leaning forward on his clay bird. He soared high into the sky, till he appeared to be nothing more than a speck to those on the ground. He leaned over to the edge and used his bionic eye to zoom in on his target, scanning every foot of the village from every angle he could get from the sky. As far as he could tell the village was empty, which meant that the village had evacuated—which equaled to him doing some damage just for the fun of it. Without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he formed a few hand signs and dropped dozens of his beautiful creations all over the village, each one knowing their own designated assignment. Within moments his creations were in place and without any hesitation, exploded into thousands of little itsy-bitsy pieces, taking out what he assumed to be main buildings. The Kage Tower lost two halls, three walls, and a portion of the roof had caved in, he even watched as few buildings crumbled to the ground, taking out their neighbors with echoing sounds of destruction. He watched in amusement as suddenly Anbu were swarming the village, searching for the source of the explosions, knowing that they had keen eyes and wild enough imaginations to suspect what seemed like an innocent bird, he flew higher into the sky.

_If I get caught too soon I won't be able to retreat with my target_, Deidara sighed. He flew just above a cloud and remained there, watching with his bionic eye as the village swarmed with shinobi. It was time to get serious

…

* * *

…

She jumped from one roof to the other and slipped from its slick surface, she screamed as she slid past the edge of the roof and fell straight down to the stone path far below. Groaning and grumbling under her breath, she carefully picked herself out of the broken wooden table she landed on and clambered back onto her feet. Only to end up skidding across the stone path as an explosion shook through the air, tearing one building apart to collapse into another. She scrambled back onto her feet, wincing at the hard tug on her hair, she turned and realized that a large chunk of wall shrapnel had landed a foot away from her head and pinned a lock of her hair beneath. Growling she carefully put her fingers under the edge of the broken wall and lifted, yanking on her lock of hair while she was at it, freeing herself from the rubble. Coughing as a cloud of dust surrounded her, she quickly covered her mouth and hurried towards the building that was damaged, to her horror she found that more explosions were rocketing through her village, making the ground roll and growl like a furious beast. Watching another building collapse because of several explosions tearing its founding apart, she even watched dumb struck as a chunin was tossed through the air until he landed into the shopping district. She hurried down the civilian road, watching the sky closely as she hurried to the wounded man's side. High overhead, she thought she could make out one of the village's giant hawks but it was the wrong color and seemed to be far too small, however it could also be the amount of distance between her and the 'hawk'. All the same, she chose to disregard the creature for now and see if there wasn't something she could do for the man she watched fly into a building. Reaching the store in question she found the man as he struggled to breath, leaning against the display case of the store in question. She reached him, her hands out spread to steady him, her knees buckling to crouch in front of him, her hands reaching out to find the damage and calculate what she could do for him.

"Sp-spri~ite?" she froze, eyes wide as she stared at the man's bloody face, her lips parting in surprise. "G-good… gi~irl…" The man smirked to himself, his voice wheezing out again before his whole body seemed to sag, revealing the glass shards, large and small, sticking out his back revealing where his lungs were punctured. She stood up staring down at the man, wondering what made her so similar to the girl she's been fighting with for five years. She rose her eyes and stared into the mirror the man landed in, staring dully at the fractured reflection as if she were seeing it for the first time. The longer she stared into that cracked and damaged mirror, falling apart because of the man's velocity when he hit it, the more she found the pink haired girl smiling back at her. There was a difference between them in the beginning, a reason why she hated her, but now she couldn't find that difference, she couldn't find that bubble of hate she always felt just hearing the girl's name. She just felt numb, cold and detached, as if she was staring at a stranger.

She decided to make a difference

There was a stray kunai knife stationed in the wall at the edge of the glass, it must've been sent flying in the explosion. She reach out and grabbed it, she stared down at it for a moment before she grabbed up as much of her hair as she could and chopped it all off. She looked back at the mirror, starring at the broken surface as if looking for something important.

All she could see was her old childish self

…

* * *

…

The woman's smirk grew into an insane grin, her amusement growing as she could see her scythe reflected back to her in the girl's wide green eyes. She swung and her weapon created a cloud of dust as it cut through the girl and impacted the earth. The Anbu knew there was no way to intervene in time, none of them were fast enough, so it was understandable why each of them were confused when a bright yellow flash appeared and disappeared just before impact. The cloud of dust and dirt cleared, revealing nothing but scared earth left behind from the scythe and the large whole Sakura climbed out of. For a moment there was hope amongst the leaf shinobi, an imposable vein hope that the fourth Hokage had appeared to save one of their own, as mysteriously as he usually was. Sadly their hopes were dashed when the woman growled lowly and turned to the far side of the court, her eyes narrowing in on a white dressed woman with endlessly flowing navy hair. An Anbu agent landed beside her protectively, one hand clasping the tanto on his back and the other held at the ready above his kunai holster.

"Don't," the woman ordered, setting the pinkette against the wall of the hidden building. "You'll only die, Kameyama-san," the agent turned towards her slightly, watching her rise to her full height, head bowed as if in shame.

"Who are you?" the woman asked with a low growl, pulling her scythe out of the earth and facing the woman, knowing she would be the biggest threat.

"How sad," the other woman whispered, turning towards her, revealing a soft pale cheek, the wind blowing to make her elegant bangs dance before her eyes. "Don't you recognize me… imoto?" she turned to face the ragged woman, letting the wind push and pull at her long midnight strands of curly hair in and out of her face. She stared back at the speechless woman, staring unafraid into her silver glowing orbs surrounded in long ratty locks.

"Ren," the woman drawled unimpressed with her 'sisters' appearance, "I was wondering when you'd get here." Ren didn't say anything, she simply sighed and stepped forward calmly, "What do you think you're going to do? Stop me?" The woman asked, Ren continued walking forward unafraid.

"It's not too late to stop this," Ren smiled sadly at her, hope glowing in her eyes

"You plan on dyeing today?" the woman asked with a low growl, Ren's smile didn't falter and neither did her soft walking, "I've only gotten stronger… you've gotten weaker!" the woman lifted and spun her scythe in the air before letting it go, so that it flew at Ren in a graceful ark.

"I see," Ren whispered, her smile falling and her face slipping into a neutral expression, "So you force my hand."

"Die traitor!" the woman screamed with a manic grin on her face. Ren sighed and lifted one hand, unconcerned that the scythe was just a foot away from cutting her face in half.

"I did try to reason with you," Ren whispered, the scythe made contact with her hand and it kept moving, glowing bright yellow for a flash of a second.

"Huh… what?" the woman stilled, her silver glowing eyes staring dumbly at her now broken weapon, the blade split clean in half.

"I'm amazed that in five years, you've already forgotten my specialty," Ren sighed as she walked forward again, unhindered by the cord hidden in the handle of the scythe, the reason the woman could pull on it and twist it in the air or pull it out of the ground.

"I haven't forgotten," the woman snarled, backing away, "I just thought you were too weak to use it now."

"My abilities aren't entirely dependent on Jashin," Ren commented dryly, "I can't say the same for you… Ruia."

"That's your mistake," the woman, Ruia, snarled at her, "Jashin-sama is a hundred times stronger then you'll ever be!"

"Don't be so sure," Ren whispered, "You don't know everything."

"And you do?" Ruia's snarl grew more demonic as she widened her stance and held her hands out to either side of her, "You don't know anything about me!" the Anbu coughed and fell to their knees as an immense chakra presence slammed down onto them, full of bloodlust and hatred. It reminded them almost of the kiyobi's power but it seemed distinctly worse, as if there was a promise of their death written in that immense pressure coming from the woman.

"You've become immortal," Ren said whisper soft, her black eyes widening a little in surprise. She silently noticed Kameyama grunt as he fell down onto one knee, his left hand trembling as he fought to keep himself from falling straight to the ground like the others. She could only count her lucky stars that the genin-girl was out cold and was unable to sense the pressure of a monster before her; the black-presence would properly force the girl into insanity.

"That's right you old hag!" Ruia chuckled sadistically, "You're not the only immortal woman anymore! I am the true priestess of Jashin-sama! Not you!" Ren blinked slowly at her, as if she was expecting the words but was still not ready to hear them, she let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. It would appear that she remained as the only one within the entirety of the hidden compound that was unaffected by her sister's show of power, the only one who could help her had no wish to do so. If she was going to fight her sister and win, she would need to do it both quickly and without the help the Hokage.

"You want to be the priestess of Jashin, that's just fine," Ren sighed, releasing her own chakra from its tightly constructed cage. "But remember the price of the title," Ren's eyes glowed a furious silver, nearly matching Ruia's. Ren's power arced off her body in fine electric sparks, the wind twisted around her like a lazy half-formed tornado, picking up pieces of dirt and pebbles.

"Lightning mage," Ruia's grin was positively psychotic, "About time big sister! I've always wondered who was stronger! The lighting mage or the water serpent!"

"Guess you get your wish," Ren replied coldly, "You won't win." She already knew she was going to die, if that was the case, she would have to take her sister with her; it was the only way to protect Ami.

"To bad you're not at full strength," Ruia replied calmly, "Couse then I'd be worried but since you're at death's door step, it means I CAN WIN!"

The Fourth Great Shinobi war started with the fight of two sisters

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 12**


	21. Chapter 21

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 21: To Save a life

Koomahana

_He who knows how to live can walk abroad_

_Without fear of rhinoceros or tiger_

_He will not be wounded in battle,_

_For in him rhinoceroses can find no place_

_To thrust their horn,_

_Tigers no place to use their claws,_

_And weapons no place to pierce_

_Why is this so?_

_Because he has no place for death to enter_

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Kakashi wished he could move even faster than he could as he saw the promise of light at the far end of the black washed hall. Just as he reached the edge of the hall, his path was forcefully cut off by a bright and blinding flash of yellow and somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind a flash of hope bloomed, only to be brutally smashed as the memory of his mentor resurfaced to the forefront of his mind. He wanted to continue forward but something in the back of his mind told him not to travel any further, so instead he revealed his sharingan eye and examined what little he could see from his current distance at the edge of the door way. About thirty or forty paces from his place he could see a red haired Anbu agent laying on the ground, masked face turned towards the flashing yellow light and dancing… Kakashi gasped as he saw a beautiful midnight haired woman practically dancing with the psychotic woman who had done nothing more than damage their forces all day. The woman dressed in the white quipao dress seemed unconcerned with the broken scythe that tried again and again to remove her head. In fact she almost appeared to be made of light as she danced just out of reach then flashed in close to land a heavy blow that forced the blood stained woman to retreat a few steps before she tried attacking again. At the far edge of the stone court he could see two teams of Anbu laying passed out on the ground, and one corpse laid in the center of the court next to a large whole that he assumed Sakura popped out of. Shaking his head to focus, Kakashi pinched his brow before forcing his eye to re-scan the court yard, searching for that flash of pink. Sadly his eye only landed on that large brown book Sakura always had with her for the past year, the only time she didn't have it was when she was forced to drop it when she tried to cover for Ami in their test a few hours ago. Kakashi had actually retrieved the book earlier and handed it off to a chunin to return it to his student that means it should be in her possession. It was not supposed to be laying beside a ripped in half Anbu agent laying beside the large whole she must've used to crawl out of the earth.

Something must have happened that made Sakura drop her book again

Gritting his teeth, Kakashi took in a deep breath and tried to locate his student's scent, he found it in the courtyard but that wasn't very helpful. He had to get more specific than that, he needed to know where she was at that moment; however all he was getting was that strange inky smell. Kakashi paused and focused in on that Ink-scent, it was mixed with the smell of liquid earth, as if the owner of the ink smell performed an earth jutsu or was near a caster of an earth jutsu. Trying desperately to keep himself calm, Kakashi focused on the scent of his student and silently noticed how it was slightly tinted with the ink smell. Alright, that told him that the owner of the ink-scent had been in close contact with Sakura, which meant that if he followed the ink smell he should be able to find her. However, the ink scent appeared to be coming from the hall next to his, meaning he would have to cross out into the courtyard to get to the hall he needed to be in. He couldn't very well walk out into the court yard, his survival instinct was screaming at him to avoid the court at all costs.

So he would have to perform his 'earth technique: hiding like a mole' in order to get to the next hall over without being seen by the fighting women. Lowering his headband, Kakashi prayed that Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't get mixed up in the fight that was taking place, and quickly formed his required hand signs. He stepped into the black stained wall and not a moment too soon stepped out into the other hall, he glanced back at the hall he just left and saw that the woman in white had been slammed into the stone above the door way, forcing it to cave in, sealing off the hall. Thanking his lucky stars Kakashi returned to his given task and followed his nose further down the hall, he stopped beside a portion of the wall and stared down at the ripple in the wall. So he was right about the earth technique, someone must've used a version of the 'hiding like a mole' or 'head hunter' techniques to pull his student through the earthen wall and out of the court. Well that would explain the pink strands hanging in the earthen wall and the smears in the dirt covering the floor, as far as he could tell there were two or three people who took his student, he just hoped they were allies. Taking in a deep breath Kakashi flinched back as he caught the scent of chloroform and realization hit him like a brick of rocks.

Someone kidnapped Sakura Haruno

…

* * *

…

Ren coughed as she climbed back onto her feet, quickly flash-stepping out of the wide swipe Ruia gave, slicing deeply into the wall. Ren raised one hand and let a ball of electricity form before she shot it at her twin, Ruia jumped and dodged and Ren arced her hand towards her, sending a whip of lighting towards her. Ruia spun her scythe and managed to block the attack, her weapon absorbing the chakra behind the attack and smoking as a result. Gritting her teeth, Ruia realized that her sister hasn't been sitting on her thumbs for the past five years. Despite her bravado before, she knew that virtually none of her attacks would work without the drawn crest on the ground and a sample of her sister's blood. She would have to work fast if she wanted that blood but with her once loyalty to the cult, not even Ruia was sure if Ren could be sacrificed to their—her god.

"Give it up Ruia," Ren ordered coldly, her body flaring bright yellow as electricity encased her body in beautiful golden sparks, "I've gotten stronger thanks to this village."

"That's a lie!" Ruia snarled, "No one is stronger than Jashin-sama! No one can equate to his power!"

"If he's so strong then why does he need people like you?!" Ren asked, her glowing eyes looking like molten silver, "Why not just destroy the world himself?!" Ruia didn't have an answer, what could she possibly say to a question like that? Especially since it came from the once high priestess of their faith…

Did she have an answer?

"It doesn't matter," Ruia panted, spinning her scythe and summoning water from the air, "He needs us! He needs me! He told me so!" Ren's eyes widened at the information, she had 'spoken' to the voice of her 'god' a few times before but she doubted that it was truly echoing in her mind, she always felt as if it were coming from the darkness that surrounded her. "How could a traitor like you ever understand?!" the summoned water twirled around Ruia for a moment before shooting down at Ren like a shooting star, "You hated us! You hate me!"

_Is that what you think?_ Ren thought sadly, watching the blast of water come closer and closer to her, _how can I hate you?_

"Die traitor!" Ruia screamed, it was in that moment that Ren spotted the two little drops of tears flying away from her sister's glowing eyes, glinting in the high noon sunlight. She smiled and let the water from her sister envelop her completely; Ruia stared wide eyed at the glob of rotating steaming water. She landed on the roof of the underground building, staring down into the courtyard in realization and heartbreak—her sister never let herself get caught before.

"Sissy?" Ruia whispered softly, fighting with everything she had to ignore the feeling of something being crushed in her chest and the burning of her eyes. All of her life she had spent it with her sister, smiling and dancing and spending every waking moment with her. Then suddenly, five years ago she disappeared and she was told that Ren had betrayed them, she refused to belief that it was true. It was Ren who found the priest, it was Ren who talked her into joining them, it was Ren who became their pride and joy, it was Ren who found their God, Ren found the woman they sacrificed nearly ten years ago, Ren found their child, Ren found… she found…

Ren found their god's daughter…

_Stupid_, "Sissy," Ruia whispered, for a moment her eyes faded to swimming midnight-blue and tears swarmed her eyes as memories from childhood resurfaced to the forefront of her mind. Then her memories shifted to the betrayal and the sudden loss of their hundreds of followers, how she was suddenly the only woman left of their people and it was left to her to bring back their god's daughter. Ruia's eyes flared a white hot-silver, her anguish and sorrow was replaced with fury and betrayal, it was all she could feel.

"Traitor!" Ruia screamed shrilly, "You stole her from us! How dare you die without telling me where she is!"

"I didn't steal anyone," Ruia gasped as she heard the voice behind her, soft and sad, "Ruia…" she should've known better when she saw the water steaming. They used to destroy whole villages by having Ren carve out their god's crest into the earth with her lightning, making it big enough to swallow the village. Then Ruia would flood it and Ren would electrocute the water, frying everyone inside and leaving no one alive to speak of what happened.

"Please Ruia," Ren whispered, tears swimming in her midnight colored eyes, "please give up… they might forgive you if you return the lives' you've taken—"

"You expect me to betray Jashin-sama?" Ruia asked, her voice quivering

"I expect you to be reasonable," Ren replied, "These people value each other's lives." Ren stepped forward, her hands raised peacefully, gesturing around them to the masked people of the hidden village. "I know you still have the power to restore the lives of those you've killed, it wouldn't harm you in the least." Ren placed a gentile hand on her sister's boney shoulder, "Please Imoto—"

"Traitor!" Ruia screamed, a ball of spinning water thrust at Ren, nearly ripping her clean in half, "I'm not you!" Ren tried to counter the attack with her lightning but she wasn't able to avoid the entire attack, her dress got a large circular rip just above her navel as a result. Ruia jumped away, flipped over the edge and started running for the shinobi laying uselessly on the ground, bodies trembling as they tried to resist the force of chakra holding them down.

"Ruia!" Ren shouted taking off after her sister, "Don't!" _I don't have enough chakra!_ Ren thought in horror as she saw Ruia raise her scythe into the air, intending to kill the man closest to her, _I have one chance!_ Lightning encased her body and she was gone in a blinding flash of golden light, reappearing in front of the downed Anbu agent, taking his hit before teleporting her and her twin away from the court yard. A bright, blinding bolt of yellow light encompassed the sky then an explosion shook the air and a scream filled the air. The feeling of burning filled her and Ren was forced to release her twin or risk being burned alive, they fell and it took Ren everything she had not to crash into the earth and die. She crash landed into a tree and barely had enough time to duck before Ruia cut it in half. Ruia kept Ren on the defensive, never letting her gain enough time to form a hand sign.

"You're slow Nee-chan!" Ruia shouted with a wicked grin, "I've out grown you!" Ren gave a harsh grunt as a foot slammed into her stomach and sent her flying into another tree. She scrambled to her feet and retreated into the woods, barely managing to dodge her deranged sister's attacks. She had thought she could beat some sense into her baby sister, but with the inhuman cackling the younger woman was doing, her increasing speed and the attacks that landed more frequently, Ren was beginning to belief that her dearest little sister was no longer savable.

"_Nee-chan! Look what I found!"_

"_What a pretty sea-shell, let's go show Oka-chan!"_

"_You think she'll like it?"_

"_I know she will,"_

_I'm sorry Imoto…_ Ren thought, retreating from her increasingly more deranged sister, tears filling her eyes, _I'm so, so sorry…_ A voice in the distance had Ren paling and Ruia stilling. The feeling of warm sunlight, soft feathers and silk strands washed over them; Ren recognized the last chakra signature as quickly as she recognized the summer sky.

"I win!" Ruia cackled, her eyes and deranged smile widening to inhuman proportions, "I've found her! Hime!"

"NO!" Ren turned and dived through the forest, moving as fast as she could; hoping, praying to reach her charge before it was too late. Ahead of her she could see three figures, two young boys were looking behind themselves at the distant third figure. Horror filled her as the cackling form of her sister burst past her, the sharp feeling of a blade tore through her side, threatening to turn her world dark.

_No,_ Ren thought as she forced herself to move faster, _I have to protect her!_

…

* * *

…

Naruto jumped and flipped around Sasuke as they raced through the trees, Naruto was carrying a frightened little boy that had gotten left behind when they evacuated. The boy was calm enough now but that was only because he knew he was safe. Sasuke refused to look back at them, constantly scanning their surroundings as if he was waiting for a team from hell to ambush them any second.

"Naruto hold up!" Sasuke snapped as he landed on a branch, Naruto barely managed to stop in time to avoid a white blur zooming past him.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted, his voice carrying through the air. The figure in white disappeared into the darkness of the forest up ahead, not a moment later the white figure returned to them, landing on a branch in the tree in front of them.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke paled at the squeaky voice, his black eyes staring up at the white figure in well concealed horror. Ami stared down at him in concern and confusion, clearing not having expected to see him on her way to… wherever she was going. "What are you doing here?" Ami asked as she braced her hands on her knees, staring down at her crush, tilting her head to the side as a portion of her purple hair rolled over her shoulder.

"We're on our way to the bunkers," Sasuke answered, a frown twisting his lips, it was strange seeing her with short hair again, he never thought she'd cut if off again. "I thought you were in the hospital?"

"I let myself out," Ami replied, "I have to get to my aunt…"

"Dressed like that?" Naruto asked, staring up at her hospital garb, the white Yukata sleeves ended mid-forearm and the skirt ended mid-calf, leaving her cream-white feet bare. Ami glanced down at her attire, silently growing tiered of her purple bangs constantly falling into her face and blocking her eyesight, she should've cut them shorter instead of copying the hair style she had as a kid.

"I decided Aunty was more important than my clothes," Ami replied, one hand rubbing at her arm, feeling uncomfortable with their staring, "it's not that wired…" Ami grumbled to herself

"For you, it's the same as seeing a two headed dog," Naruto snorted, jumping across the gap and landing beside her, "We're on our way to the barracks. You might as well tag a long," Naruto took off before Ami could retort, and just as quickly Sasuke was crouching beside her, dark eyes sharpened into a glare.

"Don't get in our way," Sasuke ordered before taking off after Naruto, knowing he had to keep up if he wanted to protect the kid they found. Ami blinked slowly, eyes still clued to the spot Sasuke had been just a few moments ago, she had never seen him move so fast before, not even in their obstacle courses. He always made sure to be just a few inches in front of everyone, refusing to go full speed despite whoever was behind him. Taking in a deep breath, Ami turned around to join the two boys who were most likely out of sight, she looked up and saw both boys standing in the next tree, staring back at her dully.

"Seriously Ami?" Naruto drawled, "Sakura-chan moves faster than you!" Sasuke sighed because that was a sure way to incur Ami's wrath.

"Excuse me?!" Ami shirked, her fury blooming instantly, she jumped and landed on the branch, only to have Naruto smirk and dive into the next one. "Hold still loser!" Ami screamed as she gave chase, Sasuke was easily keeping up with Naruto and seemed to be unconcerned with the blonde's antics and her yelling. It didn't take Sasuke long before he realized that Naruto was making Ami mad on purpose, mostly because it helped them in moving faster if there was an angry lightning user chasing them. It also helped in distracting Ami from her concern for her aunt, giving her something else to focus on. They continued traveling that way, Naruto making unnecessary praises to Sakura and making Ami peeved as a result; they were quickly silenced as an arc of lightning shot into the sky. They each fell to a stop on their respective trees, Naruto and Sasuke standing side by side with Ami two trees behind them, a scream filled the air seemingly following the burst of lighting.

"Aunty!" Ami screamed, panic making her voice crack

"You know that technique?!" Naruto asked loudly, his eyes wide in surprise

"That's Auntie's lightning bolt!" Ami replied, _she never shoots it into the sky, it's too dangerous!_ Sasuke let Ami wrap her mind around what was happening and chose to hold his tong about the situation. Ami's aunt was supposed to be civilian, so how was it that she knew an elemental attack?

"Let's go!" Naruto growled, his teeth gritted and eyes narrowed. Sasuke sighed and jumped forward, suddenly there was a scream and then his world was dark. Ami stared in horror at the two boys laying on the ground, the little boy Naruto had been carrying laid lifelessly against his back and Sasuke was curled up at the base of the tree he had been standing on previously. Standing protectively in front of Naruto was her aunt, who didn't look so pretty any more. The woman Ami knew to be Ruia stood in front of Sasuke, her broken scythe stationed close to his curled form.

"You've gotten slower Nee-Chan," Ruia smirked. Ren panted heavily, there was a cut on her left brow, letting blood roll down into her silver glowing eye. Behind her, the little boy on Naruto crumbled into dust, making Ami gasp and Ren growl. Ren had told her that her aunt survived by stealing people's life forces, her victims would then turn to ash as a result; Ruia just stole that boy's life force, just to lengthen her own.

"You're not taking her," Ren growled, her silver eyes narrowing

"Oh but I am," Ruia's smirk grew and she twisted her hold on her weapon, inching the sharp point closer to Sasuke's neck.

"No!" Ami screamed, jumping down to the ground, revealing herself as a result

"See?" Ruia questioned, "I win."

"Ami run!" Ren screamed, twisting to look at the girl. Ruia smirked as she threw the blade in her handle at her twin, Ren screamed as the weapon went straight through her shoulder and pinned her to the tree directly behind her.

"Aunty!" Ami shouted, Ruia laughed as she turned on the ball of her foot and ran to Ami. Her fist slammed into the girl's stomach, knocking her out almost instantly; Ruia caught the girl before she fell face first into the earth.

"Ami!" Ren shouted in pure panic, wincing as she yanked the blade out of her only to have it rip out of her hold and return to its master. "No," Ren whispered in horror, "you didn't... Tell me you didn't!" Ruia laughed as she let go of her staff, letting it hover in the air of its own accord. "Sentenshia," Ren gasped, Ruia scooped Ami up and smirked back at Ren; neither one saw Naruto slowly open his eyes, staring with blurry vision at the scene in front of him.

"Told you I'm the true priestess of Jashin-sama," Ruia said vindictively, "I did what you have always been too afraid to do!"

"You sold your soul!" Ren shouted in horror, "And for what?! A weapon that _choses_ it's master?!"

"It obeys me!" Ruia snapped, "Unlike _you_, it'll never betray me."

"Ruia!" Ren screamed, but it was too late, her sister formed a hand sign and disappeared straight up in a blindingly fast arc of water. "_RU~UI~IA~A_!"

…

* * *

…

Deidara cursed as suddenly a bolt of water surrounded him and then disappeared just as quickly, leaving him soaking wet. He turned very slowly to look behind him with a livid glare, crouching low was a soaking wet woman cradling a purple haired girl dressed in a hospital yukata, the woman's weapon of choice laid patently behind her.

"You must be with Ōjo-sama," the woman said softly raising her face to stare up at Deidara, "I am Ruia." The wind whipped her hair back showing her aster smooth skin and dull black eyes. As pretty as the woman's face was, Deidara knew full well then to relax around her. Her once white dress was ripped to shreds, stained red and black with brown smears of dried blood, she was covered in bruises and burns, her ratty midnight-blue hair seemed fried in a few places and her weapon was missing half of its blade.

"I'm Deidara," He replied coldly, "you ever do that again and I'll put a bomb down your throat." Ruia gave him an amused smile, she lifted her left leg and laid the girl against it, cradling the girl against her warmer body.

_I did it master… I got your daughter,_ Ruia thought, pressing a kiss to Ami's forehead

_Yeah, she's cracked,_ Deidara thought as he forced his now heavier bird into full speed

…

* * *

…

Kakashi found his student, though he was furious with the state she was in. She was covered in blood, a slit in her belly opened up from side to side, forcing him to cradle her as he ran. The people who took her left nothing behind but a bloody kunai and the smell of ink, if he ever found them then he was going to kill them. The only place that was close enough to possibly have a medic on hand was the court yard, if it didn't then he'd be able to make a B-line straight for the village and arrive in the hospital in about fifteen to twenty minutes. Kakashi glanced down at his student, his jaw clenching at the splattered blood staining her porcelain cheek and staining her hair. The only good news he had was that she was alive and the boys shouldn't have come across the psychopath, at least not without coming across Anbu first.

"Hold on Sakura," Kakashi whispered, tugging her a little close as his speed increased, "please hold on… just a little longer." He was almost there, he could see the light of the entrance; he needed to only pray that someone was conscious enough to help him.

…

* * *

…

Sasuke woke up to the sobbing of a woman and the scent of blood surrounding him. For a moment he thought he was back to the night he witnessed his brother kill a few of their relatives, as if he was dreaming of it happening all over again. Accept this time, there was sunlight streaming through thick branches, his body was swore and he could swear he could feel someone holding his hand. Sasuke blinked and looked at the appendage, wondering who was touching him. In front of him were the familiar wild blond locks of his teammate, the younger boy's hand was out stretched and locked around his right hand, as if that was all the boy could manage in his weakened state. A few feet from them was a sobbing huddled form of a bloody woman with long black hair surrounding her in endless waves, a kneeling Anbu agent was beside her with a glowing palm to her left shoulder. The man turned to look at him and Sasuke blinked, that second was all the Anbu agent needed to disappear with the woman. The only evidence left behind was the blood staining the tree and ground, the only reason Sasuke didn't think he was hallucinating.

_Ow,_ Sasuke thought, feeling his eyes begin to close,_ I... I can't move…_

Was that voices he was hearing? Did someone find them?

_This… sucks…_ his world went black again

…

* * *

…

Kakashi paced the white washed halls of the hospital. With the disappearance of the threat the civilians were permitted to return to the village and right now the hospital was flooded with wounded, shinobi and civilian alike. It would seem that Sakura was the only person who fought the woman and survived. The chunin and Jonin she saved were still recovering from chakra exhaustion and would be out for a few days if not a week. Right now, Sakura was in surgery, a few chunin medics were working on her now but with the state she was in, they didn't know if she could survive the surgery it would take to heal her. He had been waiting for news on her condition for the past hour and a half. His other too students were asleep on the bench nearby. They had encountered Ami on their way up to the bunkers and had decided to take her along with them. The boy they found and planned to return to his parents, didn't survive the encounter with the woman who appeared out of nowhere. Naruto had been able to give more details then Sasuke because the woman knocked him out first. He was even able to repeat a portion of the conversation he heard between their attacker and the white dressed woman who saved them. Apparently, the woman with the scythe was named Ruia and she was Ami's aunt's sister. Ren had tried to protect Ami from Ruia but failed as the woman forcefully took Ami away. Sasuke said that for a moment he woke up, he saw the woman sobbing and what appeared to be an Anbu agent trying to heal a wound on the woman's shoulder. The doors to Sakura's surgery room opened and Kakashi spun on his heel to face the doctor who left. The young woman slowly walking towards him looked as if she hadn't slept in a week. Her long black hair was pulled back into a high, ratty bun. A thick bandage was wrapped tightly around her temples; a small crimson stain was beginning to form over her left brow. Her pale uniform was wrinkled and blood stained, as if she's been from surgery to surgery all day and hadn't had time to stop for a quick change of clothes. Over her left breast was her name tag, reading 'Mikane' with the Uchiha crest drawn beside it almost childishly.

"Kakashi Hatake?" The young woman asked as she wiped tiredly at her bandaged brow.

"Yes," Kakashi agreed quickly, "is she okay?"

"She'll live," she agreed, her lips twisting and her brows pinching

"But what?" Kakashi asked, a sinking feeling weighing his stomach down until he could almost feel it in his toes.

"The people who took her, really didn't want her to survive," the woman answered slowly. "They made sloppy cuts though thankfully they didn't cut anything vital."

"Why do I hear a 'but' in that sentence?" Kakashi asked, his eye narrowing. The young woman sighed heavily, as if she didn't want to tell him what else she found.

"But," the woman sighed, "They knew what they were doing. They took something... U~uh," she hesitated a moment as she turned dark onex eyes onto him, looking as if she just realized who he was and trying to deicide weather or not she tell him what she knew.

"What did they take?" Kakashi asked, he was starting to grow inpatient with her

"Her ovaries," she answered with a heavy sigh. "They took her ovaries with the hope that she would die from the blood loss."

With the following silence, dark eyes closed once more

…

* * *

…

"I completed the task, my lord,"

"Good," a voice grumbled lowly, "and the girl?" It was quiet in the dark room for a moment, the man turned slowly to stare at his gray haired informant.

"She lives," the young boy said regrettably. "Her teacher arrived sooner than anticipated. My apologies for not killing her sooner, but she had to be living to remove the objects in perfect condition."

"That's fine," the man sighed turning back to his documents, "the girl's teacher didn't catch you, did he?"

"No sir," the boy smirked, "I made sure to cover my scent with ink so that he couldn't find me."

"Very good," the man smirked as he glanced at a few stacked files at the end of his desk, "I trust you have the subjects ready for the transplants?"

"Of course," _everything is according to plan_

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	22. Chapter 22

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 22: Recovering

Koomahana

_The man who loves truth or learning is better_

_Than the man who knows it_

_And the man who finds happiness in it is better_

_Than the man who loves it_

—_Confucius_

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"Where are you taking me?" Ruia asked as she tightened her hold on Ami, she had been forced to keep the girl unconscious by sealing her chakra and keeping her under a Genjutsu that would force her to remain asleep until Ruia lifted it.

"To the base in Southern Fire Country," Deidara answered, "The village hidden in the spring." He couldn't help the amused snort at the village name, "That's where the moron Hiden and your cult buddies are waiting."

"You are taking me to the wrong location," Ruia replied calmly, as if she wasn't holding onto a sleeping child, "it is not the Spring Village I must head to but to Hime-sama's birthing place."

"To damn bad," Deidara said carelessly, "If you want a new direction you'll have to jump off and head there yourself." Ruia huffed and lifted Ami into her arms, without thinking twice about it, she jumped off the giant clay bird. "OI! Are you stupid?!" Deidara screamed as he turned his bird and agile re-caught the insane woman, "You want that girl to die that bad?! I know you'll live from that height but she's not immortal like you! She'll die if she falls from this height!"

"Will you take me in the direction I wish to go in now?" Ruia asked calmly, unconcerned with his shouting

"If it means you don't pull a suicide stunt again then sure," Deidara snapped back around, trying to ignore the wild twitching of his eyebrow, "Where are we heading?"

"Waterfall country," she answered, as if she wasn't sure she should've told him the exact country she needed to be in

"That's a week north of our current placement," Deidara frowned to himself, "it'll take us longer if we want to avoid any Anbu units patrolling borders."

"The higher you are in the sky, the less they'll be able to see," Ruia replied unconcerned with the information.

"…You want to go to Waterfall country that bad?" Deidara asked, "You'd betray Hiden?"

"I am not betraying Ojo-sama," Ruia said calmly, "I am obeying Jashin-sama."

"Uh-huh," Deidara replied unconvinced, the bird swerved and they went straight up. _I'll have to develop a bird they can remain in without suffocating or freezing,_ Deidara thought as he fiddled around with his less explosive clay, trying to imagine what design would be best for him to use.

"…Hime-sama was born in Waterfall country," Ruia said softly, "I must have her in the appropriate location by the next blood moon. If I don't…" Ruia tugged Ami just that little bit closer to herself, her face twisting into misery and worry, her onyx eyes were like little black pools of water. Deidara sighed and turned back to the direction directly in front of him, returning to fiddling with the clay bird he was trying to create.

…

* * *

…

Sakura remained in a coma for two days. Her friends visited, her parents cried for her loss and one of her teachers, a man called Hotaru, visited every day. Kakashi sighed as he reached the familiar hospital door and stopped dead in his tracks. He could hear soft sobbing, carefully he slid the door open just enough to give him an idea of what was going on inside. Inside he could make out three small forms, the badge on the nearest boy's arm affirmed his suspicions. He was just about to enter and calm the sobbing of the orange haired little girl but he stopped short as he saw a small hand raise and set itself on the young girl's head. Moegi lifted her head from the blankets she buried her face into. The hand patting her orange bangs out of her eyes lowered to cup her cheek and gently wipe the fat rolling tears streaming out of her brown eyes. The face she found at the end of that pale yukata sleeve, wore a sleepy smile and a pair of beautiful watery green eyes.

"Sakura-sempai!" Moegi gasped, lunging forward to wrap her arms around the bed ridden pinket. Sakura gave a dry chuckle as she carefully pushed herself up, smiling as Konohamaru quickly helped her up and Udon passed her a cup of water. For a moment, time stopped. Moegi was crying hysterically on Sakura's lap, Sakura was gently combing her fingers through the oranget's hair, Udon stood by worriedly and Konohamaru was staring at them as if he was trying to commit the image to memory forever.

"What happened?" Sakura asked softly and just like that time restarted. Moegi pulled back, whipping at her eyes so she'd stop crying, Udon refilled Sakura's cup and Konohamaru jerked back into reality.

"You...uh, we were attacked," Konohamaru started slowly

"Yes I remember that," Sakura smiled at him, "I meant after I was kidnapped."

"We didn't hear anything about a kidnapping," Konohamaru frowned at her. Sakura sighed and racked a hand through her hair, trying to remember everything that happened after she crawled out of the earth to avoid the explosion.

"Alright," Sakura started, "how long have I been out?"

"Two days," Kakashi said as he slid the door open and stared seriously at Sakura, "You three, out."

"Kakashi-san," Sakura whispered with a light frown, she had a few feint memories about him. Something about forming a team with him but she couldn't remember if she passed the exam or if she was still an academy student.

"You know him sempai?" Moegi sniffed, frowning at the stranger

"I am Sakura Haruno's Jonin instructor," Kakashi replied, "now get out. I have to speak to Sakura about a serious matter—"

"You're a genin sempai?" Moegi with a wobbly smile hope and fear making her voice squeak and her eyes water

"I—"

"No," Kakashi answered harshly, "She'll still attend academy, though only to finish her training. She'll be taking her genin training with Sasuke and Naruto with me in the evenings."

"So then…" Udon scrunched his face up as he thought, "She's not an academy student but she's not a genin either?"

"What does that make her?" Konohamaru asked curiously

"An apprentice," Moegi sniffed, wiping her eye with her wrist

"Very good, now leave," Kakashi sighed, "seriously, you three, out." Moegi stood slowly and only left because Sakura gave her an encouraging smile and the reassurance that she would see the girl at the academy the next day. Konohamaru gently tugged his friend out of the room and down the hall a few steps before he stopped and carefully added a thin layer of chakra to his feet and silently led his friends back to the room they just left. Inside Kakashi was sitting in the chair beside Sakura, one arm thrown over the back and both legs crossed as he leaned back. Sakura was sitting up with the aid of two pillows and the raise of the upper portion of her bed, staring curiously at the gray haired man.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Kakashi asked

"Uh… I was starting to wake up, I'm not sure where I was though," Sakura hesitated for a moment, "just as everything was starting to get cleared up I saw two arms wrap around me, one had a white cloth that it pressed to my face."

"That's the last thing?" Kakashi questioned, Sakura hummed and nodded, "What about before that?"

"I was crawling out of the earth and felt really sick," Sakura answered, "I passed out without pulling myself all the way out of the whole I made." Kakashi sighed and nodded his head in understanding, it was rare for someone to pass out just after performing an element concealment technique but it wasn't unheard of. For someone who had a talent for earth, it seemed to have quite the negative effect on Sakura. It was her weakest elemental skill, as if she was fire directly working with water, or at least trying to. She had no problem in twisting the air around her and water was like second nature to her, but earth always took so much energy out of her.

"Can you tell me everything you remember after the third named you my apprentice?" Kakashi asked

"I wasn't aware of that happening," Sakura blushed a little, "my clones aren't like Naruto's, they're basically glorified illustrations that can think, act and carry things like I do but they can't relay information back to me."

_So __that's why she only gets impressions of things__,_ Kakashi thought with a narrowed eye, he knew that type of clones Sakura now specialized in were as difficult to perform as the Shadow clone. Yet they were no bit different then their original version, good for only distraction and confusion, not information relation. However it was a well-kept secret that those who specialized in illusion clones still had a similar experience as the Shadow clones Memory return. The illusions didn't return their memories to the creators but they did relate impressions, feelings and emotions to their creator. In that way they are just as powerful as the shadow clone and depending on the person, the illusion clones are actually stronger than the Shadow clone.

"How about the fight with the woman?" Kakashi asked, deciding that changing the subject would be best, "Do you remember any of that?"

"With perfect clarity," Sakura's eyes narrowed and her hands clenched into white-knuckle fists in the blanket, it was more than clear she didn't like the woman. Kakashi nodded for her to tell him everything and she did so without hesitation, she gave him every bit of detail she could remember (which was a lot). She even told him the exact movements of her three temporary teammates, the woman's every move and word, and the amount of effort Sakura used to hide the remaining two from the woman when she saw that her elder could wield an element. Although she couldn't decide if the woman used wind nature or water nature. Sakura had noticed a temperature change and increase in water vapor in the room just before she was able to send a blast of wind at Shimaya to protect him from the woman. She had concluded that the woman's skin was poisonous; to the point that she quite literally sucked every ounce of life out of anyone she touched, turning their bodies into ash. Kakashi decided that he was very glad that Sakura was his ally and not his enemy; she would be a force to fear when she grew up.

That is, if she survived their newest war

…

* * *

…

It had been a week since Sakura woke up from her coma, she missed her ninth birthday, she missed the quarter exam and she nearly missed her semester exam. Thankfully, lord Hokage had permitted her to take the exam in the hospital, under the guidance of an unfamiliar Jonin—she was latter informed that the third place remained hers. As it was, she was informed that she would remain in the hospital until the doctors were a hundred percent sure that she wouldn't turn to ashes anytime soon. Not to mention the chakra drain, extensive physical damage and the assessment she would have to undergo (to see if she was still young enough to not need hormonal balancers because of the removal of her ovaries) and all of it would all take several days if not weeks to figure out. Limiting her visitors down to her Jonin instructor and doctors, Sakura had been able to get the bar minimum of everything that was going on in the village from Kakashi. Although, she did have to force it out of him by threatening him with a visit from a nurse who was sure he had a horrendous cancerous growth on his face, the only thing she could think of that would warrant his constant usage of his mask. Relenting under the threat, Kakashi told her everything that he knew about things happening in the village, even a few minor things Naruto had told him to tell her.

Almost all of the genin got restricted to the village, many of them were taking on apprenticeships; Chunin were monitoring food and water consumption, and most if the higher ranked Jonin were sent out on dangerous missions. Even Anbu were doing more serious patrols around the village and the border, they weren't taking any missions because the village held higher ground. Only those with A or S-class titles to their names were given matching missions to earn currency for the village. A lot of her class mates were forced to take apprenticeships, almost half of everyone wearing a blue bandage was taking shifts at the hospital. Kakashi even informed her that even Tenten from the year ahead of her, was taking metal working classes, she would be designing their weapons and creating new ones. Some of her pears, like Sakura's cousin Kai, were going to be in charge of caring for the village's chakra trees, apparently they were responsible for the survival of the village during the Kiyobi attack. Hinata was starting to do runs around the village walls with several of her clans men. Ino and Shikamaru were nearly stalking their parents so they can learn more about their 'future' rolls. Kakashi informed her that Inoichi was getting ready to tie Ino down to her classroom chair and leave her there. Sakura figured that once Shikaku had enough of evading his son, he was properly going to trick him into doing some paper work so he could take a nice long nap. At least Chōji was volunteering-ly helping his father ration, grow, and store all of the village's food and water supplies so they wouldn't have to worry about it if the war got ugly. Naruto himself was helping his favorite teacher Jiraiya put up some protection seals around the village walls, as well as creating some special seals some of the more active Jonin's could use should they get into a serious fight.

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked as Kakashi paused to take a breath, the man seemed to pout at her before groaning and thumping his head in his open hand, "What is it? What happened?"

"Nothing happened," Kakashi grumbled, "That boy has some serious obsession issues."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked

"I mean he's nearly stalking me," Kakashi drawled in irritation, "every time he gets a moment off from school, he comes after me wanting me to teach him something that'll make him stronger then he already is."

"Seriously?" Sakura asked, her lips pulling up into a smile as a giggle slipped out, "he's number one in the academy, how much stronger does he have to be?"

"Apparently strong enough to take on a Kage," Kakashi answered jokingly, "I worry for that boy's future."

"There's no need to worry for him," Sakura reassured him, "Sasuke still has Ameko, so long as she is by his side he'll never stray far from the village and Naruto is undoubtedly annoying the living hell out of him."

"How'd you know that?" Kakashi asked, "Every time I escape Sasuke I run into Naruto who first asks about Sasuke and then seems to change his mind and asks me to teach him something too."

"Those two sound as if they have endless energy," Sakura giggled, "I'm glad they're doing better and are seeking to be better."

"Oh? Sounds like you didn't think much of them before now," Kakashi seemed to smile amusedly at her, though her only clue was the tilt to his single revealed eye

"Let's just say I know how you feel," Sakura grinned, "Trust me, Sasuke only gets worst."

"Just what did you do?" Kakashi asked, almost as if he feared the answer, "what do you mean he gets worst?"

"I abandoned him in a tree," Sakura grinned, "he's been bugging me ever since about using less chakra in his techniques but getting the same effect in them as the required amount."

"…he bugs you for chakra control lessons?" Kakashi asked in disbelief, "he bugs me for weapons training!"

"Throw a few kunai with explosive tags on the ends," Sakura's smile didn't drop, "he'll stop asking soon enough."

"You're cruel and unusual to your allies," Kakashi sighed, "I don't know to be proud or afraid."

"Your choice," Sakura shrugged carelessly, "oh yeah," Sakura straightened in her hospital bed, looking at her instructor as if she remembered something important, "What about Ami, Umeko and Riko? They're the only ones you haven't said anything about, are they okay?" Kakashi stilled at the information, his one good eye staring at her like he hadn't expected that question, in fact it almost looked like he wished she didn't ask about them. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked tilting her head to the side, "Did they get worse?"

"No, no, Umeko and Riko are still in the hospital recovering," Kakashi reassured quickly. "Umeko suffered from chakra exhaustion, a big dose of it, the chakra transference you gave to her before leaving for the bunkers saved her life but I'm afraid she's still not out of the woods yet. Riko was pretty burned up, she'll most likely have a few scares from the hot steam but no infection yet and her skin has been steadily growing back at a healthy rate."

"That's good," Sakura sighed, "I was afraid they only got worse… I'm glad they're still living." Kakashi sighed and bobbed his head in understanding, "Hay, what about Ami?" and he turned into a statue which alarmed Sakura, telling her that nothing was incredibly wrong with the purple haired girl. "What is it? What's wrong?" Sakura asked twisting in her bed as if she were getting ready to jump up and run out the door, "Where's Ami?"

"Calm down," Kakashi advised quickly, raising his hands peacefully, silently noticing Sakura's heart beat increase, "You need to lay back down."

"But if she's hurt I can heal her," Sakura persisted, she went to get out of bed but Kakashi rose and pushed her back down, "Ka—"

"You can't heal someone who isn't around for you to heal," Kakashi interrupted, "She was taken by the intruder." The room was silent, silent enough that it took Kakashi a moment to realize that the annoying bland sound was the heart monitor saying that Sakura's heart had suddenly stopped mid beep. "Sakura," Kakashi said slowly, "She's alive," _ba-beep, ba-beep_, good, her heart was beating again (that was only mildly alarming), "we know that she's going to remain living for a while yet."

"…a while yet?" Sakura repeated, staring up at him in alarm, "just how long do you think she has in that psychotic woman's custody?"

"Maybe to the end of the year," Kakashi answered, "After she was taken her aunt Ren returned to the apartment they shared and left behind a letter telling us everything." Sakura sat straight up in the bed, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched tight, she was listening and absorbing every word he was saying. "The woman you fought is Ren's younger twin sister named Ruia, she specializes in water Jutsu and mass annihilation, in other words she dose genocide for a living."

"That's only mildly alarming," Sakura said sarcastically, her face paling, _and I fought her! Just how stupid am I?!_

"There is one thing that is confusing to lord Hokage," Kakshi said as he stretched, "Ren-san said that the 'Hime' was born nine years ago, we've been under the impression that she was born ten years ago. Also she told us how the 'Hime' was born however our records contradict it…" Kakashi trailed off as Sakura gave him a bland look, "What?"

"You think she left something out of the letter," Sakura drawled, "You want me to see if there's a code in it and to reveal it." Kakashi stared right back at her, not confirming or denying the assumption, earning an agitated groan from the pinkette sitting on the bed beside him. "I'm not Shikamaru," Sakura sighed, rubbing at her brow as if to stem off a headache, "You do realize that if you want anyone to decode a possible code hidden in the letter they'll be needing the _entire_ letter right?"

"But Sakura-chan, you just gave me the perfect answer," Kakashi smiled as he stood from his seat and smiled sweetly at her

"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head to the side, bewilderment etching itself on her heart shaped face

"I'll just go ask Shikamaru-kun to translate it!" Kakashi said cheerfully, Sakura gave a startled noise as her eyes widened in disbelief, "Now rest here and heal up!" Kakashi chuckled, wroughling Sakura's hair and getting his hand slapped as a result, "Your friends are waiting for you." Sakura stilled at the softly mumbled words, her eyes widening as she stared at the seemingly relaxed back of her sort-of-instructor. Kakashi opened the door to her room and stopped as he stared back at the equally bewildered looking old man standing on the other side of it.

"Ah, Hello Kakashi-kun," Hiruzen greeted, blinking at the taller man curiously, "Is Sakura-chan still awake?"

"Yes Lord Hokage," Sakura said quickly, sitting higher in her bed, "I'm glad you came! Please come in," She waved a hand at the empty seat and smiled encouragingly at him, "I'll see you later sensei," Sakura said in after thought as Hiruzen entered with a gentile smile.

"Yeah," Kakashi said distractedly, "Later…" he closed the door and Sakura flipped the blankets off and threw her legs over the edge

"Easy Sakura-chan," Hiruzen urged gently, "I don't want you to get hurt more than you already."

"Please don't worry about it lord Hokage," Sakura said courtly, surprising him as she remained sitting and only stretched out her arms as far as he dared with the IV still in her left arm, "I only have a request to make." Hiruzen blinked at her and tilted his head to the side, silently telling her to continue. "I want to travel around the five nations strengthening our bounds with each of the hidden villages." Hiruzen seemed to turn into a statue at the words, his eyes widening slightly as he regarded her evenly, "I also want to finish my training with Tenzo-san. I can't do that here in the village, please let me do this." Sakura asked as she bowed as deeply as she could without falling off the bed, "if it'll make you feel better lord Hokage, if something happens to me and Tenzo believes for even a fraction of a percentage that I've been compromised, he has full rights to kill me and I will not resist."

"No," Hiruzen answered when he was able to shake himself out of his thoughts, "you're asking me to send one of my potentially best shinobi-in-the-making on a suicide mission that most Kage wouldn't even consider doing themselves."

"Lord Hokage no one else can do this," Sakura replied, not rising from her deep bow. Hiruzen continued to stare passively at her, his eyes narrowed in thought. something wasn't right, Sakura wasn't the type to beg someone to let her do something, she more likely to manipulate someone in letting her doing it and she hasn't bothered to do any word riddles with him that make him swing around into letting her do what she wants. She as asking him point blank without shame or manipulation, she was trying desperately to show him that she was trustworthy.

"You're planning something," Hiruzen said softly, not in accusation but in soft acknowledgement

"Yes sir," Sakura agreed, not rising from her half bow

"Care to tell me?" Hiruzen asked

"I plan to gather the abandoned clans of the east and try to convince them to join the leaf," Sakura answered, "I am also aware of another clan that resides in the far northern countries of Kumo. I am sure that I can convince them to join as well, if not then I should be able to get some training from them."

"Why do you want to be trained by them child?" Hiruzen asked, tilting his head to the side. Instead of answering, Sakura sighed and pointed at the little lamp desk beside her; curious Hiruzen reached forward and opened the drawer, inside sat a little black scroll. With a silent nod from Sakura, Hiruzen grabbed and opened the scroll, it took him only a moment to realize just what it was. A half completed family tree, lining only a direct path straight up through the center of the scroll, anyone birthing more than one child was given two numbers beneath their name, one for boys and one for girls if they had more than one of either gender.

"What is this?" Hiruzen asked as he pulled the scroll further open, looking further back through the lines of unfamiliar and quite commonly repeated names. It was as if she decided to only write down the names that had a direct relation to her, the people responsible for her creation.

"A family tree I designed a while back," Sakura answered finally rising from her bow, "After you told me that I had the ability to use wood release—which is a bloodline limit of the Senju clan hailing only from Hashirama Senju, the Shodaime Hokage—I got a little curious about my family history." Hiruzen lowered the scroll and stared blandly back at her, Sakura sighed and returned her feet back into the bed, nearly pouting at him as he flipped the cotton sheets back over them. "I was adopted by Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno," Sakura explained, her eyes watering slightly, "It's the only explanation why their names aren't there." Hiruzen blinked slowly as he let the information sink into his mind, a sudden reminder of the meeting he just left rushed to the forefront of his mind but he frowned and pushed the memory back. Instead, Hiruzen lifted the scroll and searched the bottom for Sakura's name, finding it he quickly read up a row, searching for her parent's names. The second he found them, he regretted reading them. Just above the squiggly kanji of Sakura's name, were two names reading 'Rukia Uzumaki' and 'Tatsuo Mizushima'; he knew one of the names from the letter left behind by Ren. Rukia was the name of the woman Ren met nine years ago who gave birth to the 'Hime' and Tatsuo was the name of the name of the Takakage of the hidden waterfall village. A slow creeping feeling of disbelief and sorrow crawled through Hiruzen's belly to his heart as he slowly lifted his eyes to look up at the little girl sitting beside him.

"I'm not a Haruno," Sakura whispered miserably, her emerald pools swimming with unshed tears, "I'm a fake… no wonder my father—" she cut herself off and shook her head, she sniffed and breathed slowly before she continued. "Ki… Kizashi," it was as if she's never said the name before and the agony in her eyes only made Hiruzen wonder more and more about her revealed identity, "No wonder he never taught…" The next thing Sakura knew, she was wrapped in Hiruzen's arms, held in an embrace tight enough to make most kids her age believe in death-by-hugs.

"No true family believes in blood," Hiruzen whispered, "They believe in bonds. The history you share with your parents isn't faked nor could it be replaced with the knowledge you now hold. To them, you are their daughter. No blood, family history, no amount of paper can ever take that away—they are your parents and you are their child. Nothing can take that bond away, _nothing_."

…

* * *

…

He sat at his desk staring dully at the small crystalline dodecagon he found sitting on his windowsill, upon the face of its perfectly spaced twelve sides was a beautiful carving of a large five petal cherry blossom. The heart shaped points on the ends of the petals was a dead-giveaway of what flower it was and as such it was as good as a signature as to who had sent it. Flipping the strange palm sized token over, he calmly read the short inscription on the back—then read it three more times just to make sure he wasn't hallucinating it. Sighing he set the token down and turned towards his open window next to him, staring out at the perfect twilight sky just before the sun touched the horizon, painting the sky in bright neon oranges and pinks, leaving only the mountain skyline bathed in deepest violet.

"So… the war's begun," if he was going to help his friend, he would need to up his training and make sure that he covered every base he could that fit him best. It was finally time to take his training seriously for once, he could no longer afford to allow someone else handle the number one seat of their year. He knew without a doubt that all of the other children in the advanced class received similar tokens as him and knew they too would begin to take their training seriously.

_Upon next blood moon_

_A darkness of purest evil shall fall upon us_

_Unrelenting, unforgiving, unforgettable_

_It'll haunt us for years to come, scaring all who survive_

_I will fight for my light, will you?_

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	23. Chapter 23

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 23: Convincing the others

Koomahana

**Let me know if anything about the moon talk was confusing, I tried to explain it but I'm not sure if it worked out as well as I thought it did...**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

_Upon the next blood moon_

_A darkness of purest evil shall fall upon us_

_Unrelenting, unforgiving, unforgettable_

_It'll haunt us for years to come, scaring all who survive_

_I will fight for my light, will you?_

He ran as fast as he legs could push him, the words of the token clenched in his hand ringing in his mind like the haunting bells of a funeral. Memories from childhood flashed in his mind, watching, listening to the laughter of the girl who never seemed to notice him even when he made an effort for her attention. His academic scores didn't impress her, his wins in sparing never drew her attention, his top scores in weapons never drew a glance. She remained with her group of friends, laughing and giggling as if nothing else existed; not even when he bumped into her on accident. She remained with her friends, never looking at him when he spoke in class, or talked to one of her friends, or even when they sat next to each other in class. The only time she spoke to him was when he insulted her friend Naruto and then she was gone again, leaving him behind to watch her disappear into the tree line as if nothing happened. He felt as if his scores would never be enough for her, that no matter what he did in school she would still never see him. Even when he took first place in their class, she did nothing but smile at her friend, as if nothing had happened, she didn't even address him. When he first made it his goal to be in the advanced class, he only planned to be in the top five but when he reached that rank he saw that she still didn't care for his existence. When he threatened her station as number three she did nothing but smile at their teachers and reassure them that her placement wouldn't be taken. When he took number two, expecting her to look at him, she only gushed over Shino's newest pet bug and ignored him. When he reached number one, he expected her to at least introduce herself to him, but again she merely turned to Shikamaru and encouraged him to complete the newest three-D puzzle he was to complete before class ended. He stubbornly clung to that number one station just in case she thought he would drop out as soon as he realized the pressure of being number one, but even after a year of holding number one, she still has yet to even look at him. According to their 'graduation test', they were teammates, that means when they finally graduate from the academy they would be on the same genin cell until they made chunin.

If he couldn't get her attention now, when would he get her attention?

…

* * *

…

Sakura sat in the very definition of pure silence, sitting in her hospital bed staring out at the setting sun with bloodshot, puffy eyes. She had finalized her decision and had Hiruzen's permission to do what she thought to be the best, he even agreed that her idea could work out for the best, she only needed to succeed in the task. Suddenly there was a shout and she turned towards her door expecting someone to walk in but she only heard the voice of someone familiar shouting with words that were formed and smashed together. She wanted to get up and go to the door, see who was making a ruckus but she knew the two agents on the other side would only scold her and carry her back to bed where they both would scold her again. The argument continued with blubbering words blurring together, then she heard someone hit the wall or maybe the floor and one of the agents entered her room and slammed the door closed before she could see who was in the hall.

"Did we wake you?" The kunochi asked as she approached and sat on the seat beside Sakura, taking her hand carefully as if the woman thought she was some frail glass sculpture. Unknown to Sakura, that was the exact description of her current appearance.

"No I've been awake since Hokage-sama left," Sakura answered, smiling reassuringly at the masked woman, "Who was out there?"

"Just a boy," the woman answered, Sakura could hear the smile in the woman's voice, "You'll be leaving soon, you should rest as much as possible."

"I know," Sakura sighed heavily, turning her attention back to the sunset, sighing heavily while she was at it. The woman sighed, patted Sakura's hand and stood to leave, upon reaching the door her partner entered with an irritated air around him. His marching drew Sakura's attention and she looked at him just in time for him to drop something small in her lap before turning around and marched right back out. Sakura blinked at the closed door and unending silence beyond it, seeing nothing in the glass of the door and hearing nothing in the hall, she turned to what was dropped in her lap. The object was a simple silver chain with a cute little two-sided pendent, on one side was a small engraving of the Uchiha crest and on the other was the swirling crest of the Uzumaki; they were both wrapped in a sterling silver circle of her own crest. Sakura smiled fondly, lifting it up so the sunlight streaming through her window would shine against the pretty silver pendent, making it glow in bright golden light.

"_Hello?_" Sakura nearly dropped the pendent, her eyes widening as she stared at the pulsing red crescent of the Uchiha crest, "_Haruno-san you there?_"

"Sasuke Uchiha?" Sakura whispered in disbelief, "What in the world is this?"

"_A commination pendent, keep your voice low or your guards will find out,_" Sasuke's voice answered her softly, "_I wanted to tell you that you're not alone in the fight. I've already contacted everyone else in our year, we're going to have a meeting tomorrow before class._"

"I take it you have another pendent of your own?" Sakura asked, smiling at the soft crimson glow of the Red Crescent

"_Yes, the pendants are matching,_" Sasuke answered her, "_just keep that pendent on and we'll always be in contact._"

"Why did you give this to me?" Sakura asked curiously, "Why make a direct line to me?"

"_If any of us are going to fight in a war of 'purest evil',_" Sakura closed her eyes and tried to stifle her laughter at the quote, "_then all of us are going to need a commander._ _It goes unsaid that you are that leader_."

"…why me?" Sakura asked, whisper soft

"_Why not? You've been leading us since we entered the advanced class,_" Sasuke replied calmly, "_the meeting will be early, do you want to be present or do you want the rundown of the decisions after word?_"

"How about I listen in and decide from there?" Sakura asked, leaning against her pillows and smiling out the window as her hand flopped into her lap, "hay, do you know anything about Ami?"

"_I had my cousin bring over a few files but I haven't gone through them, why?_"

"I asked lord Hokage about her and he just told me to not worry about her," Sakura sighed and ran one hand through her hair, "it's so strange Sasuke-san, we're attacked on graduation, Ami gets kidnapped by a homicidal lunatic and then we're thrust into the fourth great shinobi war without warning. Why would that woman want Ami? Did you even notice all the corpses she left behind? They were all female; the only ones she obliterated were males… why would she do that if her target is Ami? Why does she even want Ami?"

"_I can't answer any of those questions Sakura-san,_" Sasuke answered her softly, "_although, I do agree. That woman's actions and even the way she spoke, it was all so strange._"

"Ami is our number six, she almost always has been," Sakura looked out at the slowly darkening sky, "What's the point of taking Ami and then declaring war on us? I could understand her taking Ino or Hinata, or even Shikamaru, but not Ami. She doesn't have a bloodline or special family tricks; she's a first generation ninja for crying out loud. So why would she want Ami? What's so special about her?"

"_Are you saying they're connected?_" Sasuke asked curiously, "_Because it certainly is starting to sound like that._"

"Maybe they are," Sakura said thoughtfully, "but if the war and Ami's kidnapping are connected then that might explain what I've heard the nurses whispering about."

"_What have they been saying?_"

"Something about how in a few months everything is going to get worse, like massacre worst. I've even heard a few Chunin mumbling about a having a year left." Sakura sighed heavily, rubbing tiredly at her forehead, "and they mentioned something about a red moon."

"_Is that why you wrote 'the next blood moon' on the tablet?_" Sasuke asked curiously

"Yes, they seemed pretty worried so I thought it was important," Sakura answered calmly lifting her hands up and putting the pendent on, letting the small circle rest soundly just beneath her collar bones. "Sensei brought me a book that was completely dedicated to everything about the moon, from myths and legends to scientifically proven facts. He did this long before I heard the whispering from nurses and visiting Chunin. From the book I learned that Red moons, like solar eclipses, happen multiple times a year. It says that originally there were ten red moons appearing in every month and in each of the five great countries but that as the centuries passed the frequency of the red moons lessoned in every month. Two centuries ago there were recordings of two red moons in every month and appearing over every major city of the five great countries. March nine years ago was the last recording of the century repeating blood moons and there was only one blood moon in every month of the year appearing over every majory city of the five great nations. The book says that there's a myth about how when the last blood moon appears in the final year, a great demon was supposed to appear and bath the five countries in an endless sea of blood. However that was nine years ago and every one still stands, no great seas of blood bathing anyone, no giant demon rampaging about. That was supposed to be the end to the monthly, appearing once every century, bloody moon, key words being 'supposed to'."

"_they didn't stop?_" Sasuke asked, a frown in his voice

"No, they increased," Sakura answered, shaking her head with a sigh, "the book says that since that year, every year in March somewhere in one of the five great countries there's a blood moon appearing over a major city. The first to report a blood moon was waterfall country, then Hidden mist the following year, land of rice patties the year after that and so on. Every country, every year since March nine years ago, has had at least one blood moon, the only exception being fire country—we're the only ones in the past nine years to not receive a blood moon."

"_So the last blood moon will happen in fire country_," Sasuke said in a tone that suggested he was partially lost in thought, "_Is there a way for us to predict when the red moons are going to appear? Can we locate the last one's specific location?_"

"Yes and I've done the math but… none of the numbers match and they certainly don't make sense," Sakura sighed and rubbed one hand through her hair with a heavy sigh escaping her lips. "I think I might've done the math wrong because the numbers don't make sense to me in accordance to our current year. This the nine year, next March will be the even number ten and I think that's when all hell is going to be let lose, next March. I mean think about, the red moons started out with ten red moons in every month for one year before stopping for a hundred years and then reappearing with on less moon as to the previous century. They didn't stop appear nine years ago, they're number just decreased from appearing in every month to appearing in only one month, in march. The days that the red moon appears in march every year since nine years ago is different, each day appearing later than the previous. Just like a countdown, a countdown of years, months, and now days."

"_What'll happen next march, during the last red moon?_" Sasuke asked curiously

"Honestly I don't know," Sakura shrugged, "there are a few myths about the red moon being some kind of clock but they're as confusing as the equations. The weirdest one says that the rabbit goddess will take possession of a sacrifice and destroy the world in a single night."

"_Well that's encouraging_," Sasuke said sarcastically, but she knew his interest had been peaked, "_what else dose that one say?_"

"A lot of none sense," Sakura sighed, "_why don't I just send everything to you?_"

"Good idea, you sound tired," Sasuke turned in the tree he was sitting in and smiled at the window hidden beneath a dozen different Genjutsus but not hidden from his crimson gaze, "night."

"_Night,_" Sakura yawned sleepily

…

* * *

…

He stared at the large group of children who surrounded him, they each stared back, not one of them seemed moved with his suggestion. He could understand their reluctance, they were all kids not so much older than himself and he was basically asking them to follow him on a possibly suicidal mission that had next to no chances of success. He also knew they didn't want to follow him because he gave them a very blunt and rude run down of the situation, minus all of the more important information, like the time limit, Ami's relation to the war they now lived in, and the threat of a possible demon on the loose. Staring at several of the newly graduated teens, they knew he was leaving things out, things that could impact their decision to join the fight or obey the Hokage's orders.

"…Ami Nanami," Sasuke looked at the boy who chose to speak first, at least he didn't appear to be afraid of being shot down for his negativity, "why should we fight for her? Why should we risk our life for her?"

"That's right," a girl agreed stepping forward with a hard look on her face, "That girl made no bones about hating everyone." The group was quickly falling into that ban wagon, the wagon of hatred and resentment; refusing to lend a hand to someone they thought would never do the same for them.

"She purposefully targets those weaker than her,"

"She believes herself to be better than everyone else"

"She's rude even to the teachers"

"She's a power house, why should we help her?"

"If she wants to escape then she can, we don't have to help her"

"We should leave this to the shinobi, they'll take care of her,"

"Lord Hokage will bring her back, there's no reason for us to get involved"

"No one wanted to be her teammate, she's hated more than Naruto!" the boy flinched at the mention of his name and Sasuke quickly glared at the one who dared to bring it up. He knew Sakura was listening and he knew that if she was here, that boy would be waking up in a tree. "Tell me I'm wrong," the boy growled at him, refusing to back down now that he was given the spot light, "If any of us were in her place she'd leave us to rot!"

"_You're wrong_," Sakura's voice sounded harshly, silencing the group, "_Ami never did anything without a reason_." Sasuke sighed and stepped forward, pulling the chain off from his neck and holding it up for everyone to see. The silver pendent containing the silver plate engraved with both Uchiha and Uzumaki emblems spun slowly inside the softly glowing silver ring.

"This is a communication pendent," Sasuke explained, "I gave the partner to Sakura yesterday, she's heard every word all of you have spoken. Now shut up and listen to her."

"S-Sakura-san," Hinata stuttered, "Are-are you alright?"

"_I'm healing,_" Sakura answered, glade her white eyed friend couldn't see the amount of bandages covering her, taking in a deep breath, Sakura returned to the matter at hand. "_Have you really been so blind? She's never said or done anything regarding anyone in the Advanced Class that didn't end with a positive result. Her ways are unorthodox, but every action has a reason and you need to see that before it's too late__._"

"What possible reason could she have for constantly pointing out my lake of Taijutsu skill?" an eighth year girl asked, frowning at the glowing pendent

"_You got better didn't you?_" Sakura asked, "_Now everyone knows the name Tora Nara and they know better than to mess with you._" The girl blinked and frowned, trying to recall if that was true

"_And as for your other concerns_," Sakura's voice turned slightly colder, drawing everyone's attention to the pendent that seemed a little to haunting to be real, "_Ami would risk her life for you because I would, and there is no way she'd let me have the spot light for anything, you know that_."

"That doesn't make any sense," the boy growled, "so she'd only come after me because you would? How does that make her not who she is?"

"_Ami is who she is, for a reason_," Sakura drawled, "_her mother died giving her life, her sister died protecting her, her father was killed right in front of her_." Everyone was silent, their eyes widening in realization, that wasn't information anyone was aware of. "_She's afraid of making connections because everyone she's ever loved was forcefully ripped away from her, she doesn't want to feel that agony again. That's why she's as harsh as she is, she keeps everyone at a ten foot radius __for a reason_." Sakura paused to take a deep breath, leaning back slightly in her bed as she tried to remember every concern the group of kids spoke of.

"Lord Hokage won't be able to get her back in time to save her from the next blood moon. The Shinobi of our village can't save her if they don't know where to look. Ami is completely terrified of the woman who kidnapped her; she won't be fighting anyone if that woman is near. Ami isn't a power house, she's just smart enough to know when and how to use her power to make it seem as if she has a never ending supply of energy. She's rude to the teachers because they refused to look further into the problem of her home, she blames them for the scares her father gave her. She doesn't believe herself to be better than everyone else, she knows she's different from everyone, that's why she tries so hard to act strong. She targets those she preserves as week because she knows the buttons to press to make them mad so they can fix their weakness. She doesn't hate everyone or anyone, she's scared of everyone and their need for bonds, she's scared of losing someone precious again." Sakura stopped and looked down at the pendent in her hand, already knowing that the boy who was arguing with her was one she's known for a long time.

"_As for why we should save Ami_," Sakura's voice was soft and warm, like a summer breeze, "_She is one of us. She is an Advanced Ace, She is a child of the hidden leaf, She is our comrade, She is our—_"

"Greatest annoyance?" the boy interrupted, flicking his copper bangs out of his eyes, "why do you care about her? You're the one who's never gotten along with her in the first place, why are you so adamant about helping her?"

"_Because_," Sakura sighed remembering the day of the invasion and the words she spoke to one very frightened little girl, "_I promised I'd protect her._" The silence in the clearing was almost deafening, interrupted only by the singing of the distant birds and whispering of the wind. Suddenly that almost-peaceful-silence was rudely interrupted by the sound of a frigidly cold, white-hot fury filled voice that sounded as if it belonged to a demon of another world.

"You promised to protect her?" the orange haired boy questioned, his blue eyes blazing furiously at the pendent, "Are you insane? Why would you do that? She hates you! Or have you forgotten the constant and endless promises she's made to kill you?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stepped towards the boy, his own black eyes flickering with the need to turn bright bloody crimson.

"_You never saw her face Kai,_" Sakura hissed back, her green eyes blazing just as furiously as her cousin's, "_You didn't see her cry because of the face of one woman__,__you__ didn't see her tremble at the voice of her father__,__ You didn't_—"

"Quite defending her!" Kai shouted, "She is your enemy!"

"_She is my comrade_," Sakura snarled, "_We took the same oath__,__ We studied under the same teachers__,__ We passed the same tests__,__ We—_"

"Are enemies!" Kai interrupted, "You are the Sprite and she is the Nymph! Neither one of you can stand the other! You're destined to fight until one of you loses!"

"_Who gave us those names?!_" Sakura suddenly screamed at her pendent, glaring furiously at the softly glowing crimson moon on the silver plate, "_We never asked for them! We never wanted those names! We're just girls trying to be the best that we are! Someone else's decision shouldn't decide our fate!_"

"You can't change something once it's carved in stone!" Kai snapped

"_Then I'll destroy that stone!_" Sakura growled lowly, angry tears flying to the edges of her eyes, "_I will save her! I'll save her because I made a promise and I don't go back on my word!_" Sakura would never know how much her words impacted those who listened, memorizing every syllable and vow she made.

"And just what are you going to do when she fails your expectations?" Kai asked, his teeth ground together and his fists trembled at his sides, "What are you going to do when she becomes an enemy of the village?" the pendent went silent, as if Sakura didn't know how to answer him right away, "Answer me! What are you going to do?!"

"_Then I'll deal with her myself,_" Sakura replied coldly, stilling her classmates, "_If you're not willing to save her before it's too late then you can stay __in the village__ and be safe. Let the adults do all the hard work and don't worry about anything until your man enough to do it yourself!_" There had never been a time where Kai had wanted to smack someone as much as he did right then, the glare on his face was enough to make Naruto and Hinata both step forward as if they thought he would attack Sasuke instead of Sakura.

"You're not going after her and neither is anyone else," Kai ground his teeth, making them squeek in protest of the pressure he placed them under, "Ami isn't our concern." Sakura remained silent, his words silencing her like physical slaps to her face or piercing her heart like sharp blades. Everyone was silent as they watched Kai argue with his cousin through a pendent, they had never seen Kai lose his temper; it was a joke in their school about Kai losing his temper as a sign of Armageddon. Even when he was forced to fight Sakura in the few mixed spars their class had, he never once struck her, choosing instead to let her miss continuously until the proctor got bored and ended the match. For him to do verbal assaults on the girl he reserved one or two words for, meant that he was truly not happy with her and he didn't approve of her plan. However, no one knew how much he disliked Ami until now; he was usually so reserved and quiet and spoke only when he was forced to.

"_Then who's concern is she?_" Sakura asked, head bowed and eyes shadowed, "_Her mother is dead, her sister is __dead__, her father is dead and for all we know her only living relative, her aunt, is also dead_."

"Then she's a word of the state," Kai said as he took deep breaths to control his breathing, trying to calm himself down, "That puts her under the protection of the Hokage." Naruto straightened, his eyes hardening and his face twisting into a frown, he was a ward of the state and he knew the only way someone would go after Ami was if she was particularly close to an instructor but that wasn't the case. She literally had no o e to count on, she was alone in home and in school, no one cared if she went missing, no one cared if she was stolen from their village, no cared if she was murdered in broad daylight.

Ami's only chance if survival was Sakura

"_Lord Hokage was unable to protect her_," Sakura reminded him, "_I promised to protect her and if you're not willing to help me, then that's just fine, I won't force you._"

"Sakura you're not going—"

"_I will not remain in the village and pray that she'll live!_" Sakura snapped loudly, glaring with teary eyes at the pendent sitting in her hands, beginning to soak in her tears, "_I won't be a liar! I won't sit on my hands and believe that the clueless adults will bring her back! Not when they're so quick to kill first and ask questions later!_"

"It's not your place to question lord Hokage!" Kai snapped, "His word is law!"

"_What's the point of being __Hokage__ if you don't protect everyone in your village?!_" Sakura screamed, not noticing her door slamming in her two guards jumping in to see who she was shouting at, "_What's the point of training us until we can counter Jonin's with our hands tied behind our backs if it weren't for the sake of surviving this?!_" Sakura asked loudly, reminding Kai of their current state of war—with an entity none of them knew of. "_Did you ever stop to think that maybe that's why we were trained the way we were?! I believe that lord Hokage knew the fourth great Shinobi war was approaching and that's why he developed the Advanced Class! So that more kids would survive the war!_"

"Even if that were true, it's still not your place to go after her!" Kai shouted back, "You're not even a Genin yet!"

"_I'm an apprentice!_" Sakura shouted back, "_All I have to do is ask lord Hokage to send me out on training outside of the village walls and he'll agree!_"

"What makes you so sure that he will?" Kai snarled, "you're wounded and in the hospital! You're not going anywhere!"

"_I know he will because Lord Hokage would never give up on someone so precious to him,_"

"_Excuse me young lady!_"

"_Uh-oh,_" Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed, already gussying who the voice belonged too

"_Give me that!_" there were several sounds of what could only be described as Sakura pulling the pendent out of the woman's reach

"_But it's mine!_" Sakura whined

"_Not if its gonna make you have a hernia!_"

"_I don't have a hernia!_" a few more sounds of a struggle followed by Sakura's whining when the woman succeeded in taking the pendent away from her. "_Give it ba~ck!_"

"_You'll get it when you start behaving!_" they heard Sakura's voice begin to shout something but was interrupted by the sound of a slamming door.

"Now what do we do?" Ino asked, looking towards her friends, "I still haven't decided if I want to save Ami or not."

"Perhaps we should just think on what we know so far and come back tomorrow with our final decisions," Shikamaru replied, "Everyone else in agreement?"

"_I have a suggestion for you damned little brats,_" everyone turned towards the pendent, feeling like a little kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, "_if you're truly planning on going after Ami Nanami know this, five of our best tracking teams are out searching for her. Right now, we are at war, granted we're only in the reconnaissance stage of it but we are at war. Faster than you think, you'll be running through the blood stained forest towards our enemy and when you get there—YOU must decide to save or kill her. If you truly want to save Ami, you'll only have six months to train to become strong enough to face her kidnappers. At the end of the sixth month, the real portion of our war begins. Take a look at the person at your right, that person will survive the war. Take a look at the person to your left, that person __will die__. War is not a game, it is not about who's right and who's wrong. It's about the strong surviving and the weak dyeing. Remember that brats because now it's your turn to face death._"

"Your a crabby bitch," Sasuke said, quickly snapping the pendant closed before she could scream at him.

"You do realize that if you go anywhere near the hospital she's going to kick your rear faster then you can blink, right?" Shikamaru asked

"Good thing I'm patient," Sasuke replied, smirking at him

"Careful bastard, if you miscalculate you'll _be_ the patient," Naruto snickered at him

"Everyone will meet back here before during lunch," Ino ordered, dusting off her knees as she rose to her feet, "send out your clones ho your next class so our teachers don't come searching for us."

"Understood," several students answered automatically, for the most part it was the Yamanaka's replying to their clan heir

…

* * *

…

As agreed the next morning every Advanced Class Participants years five through seven arrived in the training ground that started the fourth great Ninja War. The first to arrive was year five, they remained grouped together watching their seniors almost wirily, as if they weren't sure what would happen next. Kai, Sakura's elder cousin, walked in front of his class year, an unhappy look in his eyes as he walked towards them as calmly as a pissed-preteen could. Sasuke stood and walked out in front of his class year, he and Shikamaru had both agreed that the one in the number one station took on the responsibility of commanding everyone else in their year and negotiate with their elders.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Year five, first seat," Sasuke introduced himself swiftly and courtly, no questions asked about his identity, "my second in command and I have both agreed that the first seats of every year should be the commanders of that specific year."

"I am Chohime Nara, year six, first seat," a soft spoken girl as thin as broom with thread thin auburn brown hair covering almost the entirety of her face stepped forward. "By commander of their year, you mean that only the first seat commands those of their own year, such as a Jonin commands a unit of genin?"

"That's correct," Sasuke agreed, "we first seats know our classmates the best. It is unlikely that another from a previous year will be able to utilize a team made up from other class years to their fullest potential."

"I understand," Chohime murmured, "I also agree with this method of command. It'll be less chances for the adults to find out our plans, I say this because the secrecy in which we are communicating implies us doing this on our own."

"That is correct," Sasuke agreed, "Ami can only rely on us, the adults maybe looking for her but they will not save her. At least not in time."

"I understand," Chohime murmured in her soft shy sounding voice, "this method is also best because it'll also be easier for the commanders to relay the information to their teammate's instead of a younger student trying to contact an older one, especially since none of you have ever bothered us before."

"I am Hama Nohara, first seat of year seven," Hama drawled stepping forward with an emotionless face, "should all of us agree to follow the third seat of fifth year, then this method of command is useful."

"I am Nia Tsukino, first seat of year eight," everyone turned to the newly minted genin, straightening their postures as the snowy haired girl stepped forward with the same grace a princess conducted herself, "I too agree with Lady Haruno. It is our right to protect our own and for a monster to steal one of our children right from beneath our noses is unacceptable. Most of my classmates agree, we will stand with the fifth years. There is one question we have."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked curiously

"Are any of the other Advanced Class students participating in this illegal mission?" Nia asked, her glistening golden eyes sharpened on him, any answer other then 'no' was unacceptable to her and that was made clear to every student standing before her.

"No one younger then us would receive the tablet," Shikamaru spoke, drawing the albino kunochi's attention like a hawk locking on pray, "Sakura would never endanger one of her favorite little students, not with all the damage she took trying to protect them."

"Good," Nia nodded courtly, "now we may proceed with the discussion of weather ir not you two years will also follow the fifth years."

"Oi, not all of us think we should follow little pinky," Nia cut her eyes at the boy who spoke at her, he immanently ducked behind her second in command, as if the Inuzuka would protect him. Kai was the first to attempt a conversation with the fifth years who already decided to stand with Sakura, however he was interrupted by a kunai flying inches past his nose and burying itself into the ground between him and Sasuke. Together the two males, and the other first seats, turned to look at the one who threw it, and found themselves staring blankly at Hama.

"I think the best way to settle this is with a good old fashioned spar," Hama said in complete boredom, "you," he pointed at Kai, "will go first, after that anyone else who still isn't convinced by… uh him," Hama pointed at Sasuke, clearly not believing the heir to be worth his time as he never bothered to remember his name (he couldn't remember Kai's name, the reason he called him 'you' and they were in the same class), "Can challenge him themselves, deal?"

"Deal," Kai smirked at his opponent, ignoring the soft shuffling of his classmates as everyone carefully formed a circle around them. Sasuke frowned and glanced back at Shikamaru curiously, already seeing the genius rise to his feet and carefully maneuver himself behind Sasuke, as if silently protecting his weakest point.

"Everyone split up," Shikamaru ordered as he leaned against the tree his classmates were huddled under, "Two sides will be formed. This side stands with Sakura and her decision to find and save Ami. That side," Shikamaru pointed across the field to where Kai stood, "stands with Kai. If Sasuke wins his matches we each follow Sakura's orders to the T, no questions asked."

"Sounds good to me," Naruto grinned as he crouched beside Shikamaru, quickly joined by Shino and Hinata, "Go bastard!"

"Baka!" Sasuke barked back, "Learn some manners!"

"Like you can talk," Naruto smirked

"Shikamaru-sama you can't be serious," a brunet girl said harshly, stepping forward with a glare twisting her face, "you're talking about going into enemy territory that's run by S-ranked ninja, finding and rescuing one little girl that no one cares about!"

"Sakura cares and that's good enough for me," Shikamaru replied evenly, his eyes narrowing at her, "you don't have to follow her but I will."

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 12**


	24. Chapter 24

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 24: Fight for what you belief in

Koomahana

_Those who know, don't talk_

_Those who talk, don't know_

_Keep your mouth closed_

_Guard your senses_

_Temper your sharpness_

_Simplify your problems_

_Mask your brightness_

_Be at one with the dust of the earth_

_He who has achieved this state_

_Is unconcerned with_

_Friends and enemies_

_With good and harm_

_With honor and disgrace_

_This is the highest state of man_

**I had to make this one extra-long, I hope you don't mind ****J**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

"Shikamaru-sama you can't be serious," a brunet girl said harshly, stepping forward with a glare twisting her face, "you're talking about going into enemy territory that's run by S-ranked ninja, finding and rescuing one little girl that no one cares about!"

"Sakura cares and that's good enough for me," Shikamaru replied evenly, his eyes narrowing at her, "you don't have to follow her but I will." The girl stepped back, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second. She turned to look at the other fifth years but only saw the same determined look; they would follow that strange Haruno without question. She wondered briefly if they would later change their minds or regret their decisions but two hard looks from the heiresses of the Yamanaka and Hyūga clans made the brunet see that even in death they would stand by their choice.

"There should be a neutral side," Sasuke said as looked at the two heiresses, the only girls in his year that didn't get seriously hurt. "Ino-san, Hinata-san, you two should head that side."

"Understood," Hinata agreed in her whisper soft voice

"Of course," Ino smirked, propping one hand on a hip and throwing the other into the air. "This side is neutral!" Ino shouted loudly, making Sasuke sigh while Shino and Naruto hurried to the other side of Shikamaru, hands cupping their ears as if in pain.

"Ino, I'm representing Sakura's side, if you're gonna represent the Neutral side you need to stand in a place between Kai-san and Sasuke," Shikamaru grouched, rubbing one finger into his ear. Ino blushed and hurried away from her friend, Hinata leading her to the perfectly neutral side, far enough to not get involved in the fight and yet close enough to see everything happening. Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to face Kai only to cough as a kick was slammed full force into his stomach, nearly making him fly straight back into Shikamaru. Instead Sasuke back flipped and slammed both hands into the ground, adding chakra to make him stop sooner.

"That's cheating!" Ino screamed, ready to jump in just to make yell at the orange haired teen. Kai ignored her and swung an Ax-kick for Sasuke's head, only to give a quick retreat as he brought up a kunai that was aimed right for the artery in the back of his calf. If he got cut there then he could bleed out in fifteen to twenty minutes, if someone did manage to stop the bleeding there was still a risk of artery not healing and forcing the doctors to amputate; which would result in his shinobi career ending abruptly.

"Not on the battle field," Hama drawled, watching Kai and Sasuke study each other as if seeing the other for the first time. "Our enemies won't think twice about attacking while we're distracted. A True Shinobi can multitask: attack their enemy, protect their allies, and plan for a quick success." Sasuke jumped forward at the same time Kai did, they met together in a dead lock, Kai blocked Sasuke's kunai with his own and Sasuke blocked his kick with his raised arm, refusing to budge despite the power behind the kick.

"Just give up," Kai grunted

"Never," Sasuke hissed, pushing his leg off and retreating a couple of steps, "I refuse to let an ally die when I could've prevented it!"

"The brave die young, the wise live long," Kai replied calmly, he crouched and slammed both hands together in a quick succession of hand signs too fast for the eye to follow then slammed both palms into the earth, "Spring Style: Strangle Dangle!" Sasuke blinked dumbly at the older boy, one eye brow rising at the absurdity of the name before giving a startled yelp as something wrapped around him and lifted him high into the air. Wrapping around Sasuke's body was thick branches from the oak tree Shikamaru still leaned against, Sasuke coughed as the branches slowly tightened around his body.

"That would be my clan's specialty," Kai said as he stared up at Sasuke with hard blue orbs, "We specialize in Nature manipulation." Sasuke ground his teeth together, there was no mention of the Haruno family having shinobi much less any form of a bloodline. "The mere fact that Sakura can't perform our most simplest of tests, proves just how weak she really is." Sasuke glared down at Kai with blood red eyes, fury filling his every cell and growing as the teen stared into his eyes unafraid. Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke readied his lungs, pushing his chest out as far as he could in the confines of the branches and then blew out a large fireball, aiming it straight at the Haruno. Kai flinched back and quickly retreated to a safer location with everyone else in his class year, they all skidded to a stop several dozen feet away from where the fight originated.

"What's the matter Kai?" Sasuke's voice called from the smoldering gray smoke of the brunt grass, "I thought you liked fire?" Sasuke asked with a smirk, walking out of the smoke without a scratch, eyes as dark as the night. Kai rolled his eyes and quickly weaved a few more hand signs before kneeling and pressing a hand on the earth again. Sasuke couldn't take another step before he was entangled in a hundreds of roots from the nearest tree; he looked down at the dusty, dirty roots curiously for a moment before looking up at Kai expectantly.

"That is our version of the head hunter jutsu, we call it the 'idiot net'," Kai said calmly, rising to his full height and stuffing his hands into his pockets

"It would've been funnier if Naruto was caught in it," Ino snickered, ignoring the glare she received from the other blonde

"If you don't quite soon, the roots will pull you down into the earth, were you'll remain for the rest of time," Kai continued, ignoring the comment. Sasuke hissed as the branches tightened, drawing blood from his exposed limbs. The other fifth years started yelling at Kai, Ino and Naruto were the loudest, not understanding why he would go so far for a simple spar. "this can be done as soon as he quits, when he dose he has to admit that he isn't strong enough to go after Ami and stand against Sakura-imoto when they next speak," Kai said unconcerned with the blonde's screaming when they saw Sasuke's feet begin to sink into the earth. "You better hurry up and quite brat, if you don't your body will be become the roots of the tree while your head rots above ground."

"What kind of monster are you?!" Ino screamed at him, restrained only by Hinata who had to wrap both arms under the blonde's to keep her from interfering. "If you were fighting Sakura would you be fighting her the same way?! No because you're family! You wouldn't sentence her to death!"

"My people are different from yours," Kai said, turning glassier blue irises onto the young heir, making her take a fearful step back, it was more than the expression in his eyes that drained the color from her face, it was the little bit of emotions she could sense in his chakra. A kind of finality and determination that her father once told her about finding in shinobi who were ready to die for a cause and take out as many enemies as possible at the same time, that was the emotion she was faintly detecting in his chakra. He was serious, serious enough to bind all of them to the earth for the rest of time if it meant keeping them in the village and away from Ami, he would not allow any of them to leave the village, not without a fight. "Once someone betrays us, we stop at nothing to destroy them. Forgiveness is not an option, failure isn't an option either. If we must, we will commit suicide and take that person with us to the other side."

"That's insane," Shikamaru hissed, stepping forward as if to interfere in the fight, "Sakura didn't betray you, she only wants to protect a classmate. You're threatening the life of _her_ teammate, doesn't that make _you_ the traitor?"

"No," Kai replied courtly, turning his icy gaze onto the seemingly unaffected brunet, "I will not commit treason of my clan or village for a mission that doesn't even have a percentage of success."

"She..." Sasuke gritted his teeth, bowing his head while the roots tightened a fraction around him, "She's not like you!" Sasuke whipped his head up and glared furiously at Kai, crimson irises gleaming in sunlight and black tomoe spinning lazily. "She's wouldn't give up!" Sasuke shouted, his fingers wrapping together into three difficult hand signs, "Katon: demon finger!" Kai cursed as a rotating pillar of flame surrounded Sasuke, consuming his image and destroying the roots wrapped around him. Soon enough, the boy was free and the fire was dissipated through the air, making a wave of fire race towards Kai, only to disappear the second it reached the edge of his sleeve. Kai blinked and saw that Sasuke was walking away from him, not a scratch on his body, he looked to his left and saw Hama, a disappointed look twisting his face.

"Sasuke Uchiha has won," Hama answered his unspoken question, "he placed you under a genjutsu and placed a kunai at your throat. Kai Haruno you've lost." Hama turned his eyes to the group still standing behind Kai, "Who's next?" Kai fisted his hands, ground his teeth and marched to the side where he would remain out of the next fight, he wasn't used to losing and losing a fight that put the life of one of his relatives on the line was a blow too low for him to accept.

"I am," the same girl from before the fight started called out, stepping forward with a determined look on her face. Sasuke blinked and looked back at Shikamaru, as if asking for permission. Shikamaru looked at him, shrugged carelessly and closed his eyes in acceptance, as if he didn't care for the results of the fight.

"I'm Tora Nara, Seventh seat of year eight," Tora readied herself in her Taijutsu stance, auburn eyes narrowing into thin slits as her shadows readied themselves against the earth around her, "this won't take long." She silently notice how some of the fifth years looked at Nia, as if expecting an explanation.

"I said 'most'," Nia shrugged carelessly back at them, as if she didn't care for Tora's actions

"Sasuke-kun, step down from this one. You're our number one; you shouldn't have to deal with her," Ino said stepping forward, her eyes narrowed at the older girl, "I'm number seven of our year, I'll fight her."

"This is a fight to decide whether or not we should follow your little third rank," Hama drawled carelessly, "You are representing the Neutral side."

"If I lose the fight, I'll stand against Sakura, happy?" Ino asked, cutting her blue eyes at him, "A seventh rank against a seventh rank, a true test to see the difference between our years."

"You're fixing for a butt-whopping blondie," Tora growled lowly

"It's not fair that Sasuke has to go from fight to fight continuously without rest," Shikamaru countered Hama easily, "everyone who faces him will be at full strength, while he'll only get weaker and weaker with every fight that drags on and on. That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair," Hama drawled carelessly

"It's not a real representation of our year either," Ino added, baby blue eyes never leaving Tora's, "how are we supposed to show you that we're ready if you're just gonna dismiss us?" Ino slide her narrow gaze at Hama, unafraid of the blank stare he was giving her. "You should gather intel on everyone you meet so that you're not over estimating or underestimating them. If you are forced to fight with Hinata and Naruto, how are you going to plan the best form of attack or defense with them? If you're forced to infiltrate a building with Shino and Shikamaru how are you going to place them to their advantages? If one of your teammates is seriously wounded and you have to send the other teammate out for the nearest medic, who do you ask for?"

"Ino's right," Shikamaru said thoughtfully, "you know nothing about us. Each of us are different, especially in our strengths and weaknesses. Ino and Hinata might work well together but put in Naruto and nothing will get done. Sasuke and Naruto are matched only by the other, their third teammate must be focused and talented to keep up with them, that's why Sakura was placed with them. Shino won't work with someone who interrupts him, but he's a good leader with a handful of plans and back up plans always forming in his head. Sakura is passive, she falls easily into the follower position but give her a responsibility and she'll easily take the lead. Hinata and Umeko are both shy, especially around strangers, however they are both powerful trackers and when forced to fight they take no chances and spare no one. Riko is bossy and has a superior complex, but she's strong willed and protective."

"Alright I'm bored," Naruto smiled sleepily, "Oi bandage-face, here's the deal." Hama narrowed his eyes at the rude reverence to his clan marks, a look of disgust crawled over his face, as if he thought the blonde boy was a talking bug that needed to be squashed. "This morning, you were tasked to pick out two other teammate's for the mission assigned to you, the mission is to hunt down and bring back a shinobi carrying important intel on the village. His known skills include chakra detection, Taijutsu and stealth. With our current strengths and abilities, you are to pick out at least two of us fifth years to track and take out a Jonin medic-nuke-Nin."

"A medic nuke-Nin?" Hama repeated with a raised eyebrow, medics were more usually soft hearted people who healed for the sake of sparing lives and typically couldn't heart a fly. In a fighting sense they had some of the worst Taijutsu skills that's ever walked the face of the earth, specializing in avoidance and distraction rather then hand-to-hand.

"A medic shinobi who betrayed their village, making them a nuke-Nin," Naruto clarified, "go on, pick two of us already." Hama rolled his eyes heaven word

"Fine," Hama looked at the fifth years in boredom, "the Hyūga and... You, Blondie."

"Hmm, me?" Naruto asked, pointing at himself

"Yes you," Hama agreed

"What do you think Shikamaru?" Naruto asked, sliding a knowing look at the thinking genius beside him

"Nuke-Nin is approximately B ranked, is a wide range sensor and skilled in espionage," Shikamaru said with his eyes closed as he continued to think, "best percentage of success is ten percent." Shikamaru opened his eyes and stared dully at the older boy directly across from, "the target would have several options. Stay an easy week ahead of you, kill or seriously wound you or Hinata, or let you three move on without ever knowing that you walked right past him."

"In other words you picked wrong," Ino smirked walking forward to stand beside Sasuke, "still think you can whoop my butt?"

"Without question," Tora replied calmly

"Sasuke you might want to move," Shikamaru advised, "Ino don't hold back."

"Right," Ino agreed just as Sasuke took two big steps back. Shikamaru smirked while Ino kneeled on the ground and smiled sheepishly up at her opponent; Tora snarled in fury. With a new plan in mind, the older girl returned her weapons to their original places. A nod of agreement from Hama was all Tora needed to send a wave of shadows at the blonde.

"Wrong move," Shikamaru smirked to himself. Tora froze as a wall of water split the earth between her and Ino, sending clumps of soft earth falling down on her like rain mixed with hail. Ino didn't move but her wall of water soon moved to form a serpent that swirls around her, before Tora could come up with a new plan, the serpent dived for her and slammed its head straight into her stomach.

"I win," Ino drawled calmly, the fight barely lasted three seconds. The older kids all whispered and gossiped together, having never seen someone's defensive strategy being a kneeling position.

"Of course," Shikamaru's smirk didn't fall, "how many times have we spared again? Too many to count." Tora coughed and struggled to push herself off the ground; Hinata grabbed Tora by the back of her shirt and dragged her off to the side while Ino all but waltzed over to her place beside Shikamaru.

"My turn! I'm Kaname, Year six, third seat!" year five all looked at each other curiously, "what? Where's your number three?"

"Sakura is in the hospital," Shikamaru informed the bubbly girl. "I'm number two, guess I'll have to fight you."

"You can send someone else!" Naruto bellowed loudly, "like Shino! He looks antsy right now!"

"Shino is our number four, that fight would just be cruel," Sasuke said, taking Shikamaru's previous place

"Teme!"

"It's not fair to send a number three against a number one or against _our_ number four," Shikamaru interrupted calmly, "sorry Shino, you can handle the next number three."

"Deal," Shino agreed easily

"Ready, Set, Go!" Naruto shouted cheerfully, Kaname charged Shikamaru impulsively, a wide grin on her face.

"Guess everyone has a bottle rocket in their year," Shikamaru yawned in boredom, "troublesome."

"Don't just stand there! Get ready!" Kaname shouted, Shikamaru looked at her duly before shrugging. Not taking any chances, Kaname flash-stepped behind Shikamaru and then flash-stepped again before he could retaliate.

"Later," Shikamaru yawned sleepily

"The fights not done!" Kaname shouted forming a single hand sign, "release!" Shikamaru pointed at her feet and Kaname looked down curiously. To her horror she saw the explosive tag she put on Shikamaru's back wrapped around her foot, the edge burning. She didn't even have time to scream before the tag went off and she was blinded by a brilliant white light.

"Kaname losses due to lack observation," Hama's voice sounded in her head and slowly Kaname lowered her arms, her teary eyes staring terrified at the pealed in half tag sticking to her foot. Slow realization made itself known and she sagged to her knees in over flowing relief, all to happy that the boy switched her explosive tag for a flash tag.

"That wasn't nice," Kaname said, looking at Shikamaru as if he just stole her favorite cookie from her

"Did you seriously think I would hurt you just to make a point?" Shikamaru asked, in answer Kaname looked at first to Kai and then pointedly at Sasuke. "One person in our year does not represent the entire generation."

"If that was true we'd all be screwed because of Naruto," Sasuke shot back without looking at anyone

"That had better have been a compliment," Naruto said warningly to his teammate as Shikamaru shook his head and sat on the ground to Sasuke's other side.

"My name is Sayuri, Year six, sixth seat," the brunet girl bowed politely to the fifth years, "where is your sixth seat?"

"Umeko is in a coma," Ino answered the girl, "Hay baka, you fight her."

"Don't insult me and then give me an order!" Naruto bellowed loudly

"Dude your our lowest rank right now, shut up and do it," Sasuke ordered him

"Teme!"

"It's not fair to send a number six against a number four," Shikamaru interrupted calmly, "you want to fight so go ahead and fight to your hearts content."

"You guys were just talking about how it wasn't fair to focus on one of you," Sayuri reminded them

"You ain't bullying me!" Naruto shouted, jumping to his feet and charging her impulsively. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Year five ninth seat!" Sayuri easily side stepped him, looking at his back blandly only flinch as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and tackle her to the ground. Naruto then dog piled her with ten clones, all grinning stupidly.

"Sayuri," a white eyed boy called, stepping forward, "fight." Naruto didn't get to understand the order before he felt his bottom five clones burst into white dust, he saw the spinning steel staff and barely had any time to dodge before it swept through his other clones.

"Weapons master," Naruto frowned at the brunet, watching the girl spin her staff around like a pendulum and gracefully pull herself up to her feet. Crouching low, Naruto designed three more clones and charged again, only this time Sayuri slammed the tip of her staff into the ground and sent out a course of electricity five feet around her, destroying one clone. The two other clones slid to a stop on either side of her, hands out spread to either side, the last remaining third Naruto stood perfectly centered to her.

"Don't screw with an Uzumaki," Naruto grinned at her, clapping his hands together and spreading them out wide, lining each palm with each of his clones.

"I'd move if I were you," Ino smirked at the girl, pulling out a scroll from her back pouch, "if you get caught in that you might not live."

"Yeah 'cus I'm gonna go full blast on a _girl_," Naruto snorted, "Hell Umeko could handle this one. Sucks that she won't get a confidence boosting fight."

"You just saved your life," Ino replied with an irritated look at the boy. Sayuri flipped herself of the ground and twisted herself upside down, placing the sole of her left foot on the top end of the staff before she let go and using only the strength of her muscles, pulled herself up to standing on the very top of the staff, looking down at Naruto with blank brown eyes. From her height she could see the sun gleaming off the hair thin ninja wires between the clones and the one real Naruto, which ever one that was. She crouched down low on her staff, letting her right leg line its length while she put both hands around her left foot, allowing her face to settle beside her left knee.

"Forty-five meter dash, straight up," Sayuri whispered, Naruto and his clones waved their arms up and around, forming elaborate circle-knots with their connected wires, but before the wires could wrap around Sayuri and her staff, the end buried in the earth shot off like a rocket, sending her straight into the sky.

"Weapons master my butt," Ino whispered staring at the sky with wide eyes, "She's a damn gun freak."

"This'll be interesting," Shikamaru murmured, looking up at the sky curiously. High above them, Sayuri flipped her steel staff around herself, tapping a button that ejected a brace, trigger and a small electric focus lens. Naruto looked down at his clones, noticed the little red dots on their foreheads and looked back up, a second later he looked down again and three of them stared dumbly at each other.

"Target's met," Sayuri whispered to herself, lining up the three perfectly triangular dots on her screen with the foreheads of the three boys. "Firing," the end of her staff pointing down opened slightly and with an echoing explosion her bullet was set free, the force sent her careening up another twenty meters. Naruto flinched as the thing fired at him coated itself in white clouds, as if the air itself was resisting the thing fired at him. Naruto and his two clones jumped forward hurriedly and just in time to avoid what he guessed to be big metal rocks landing in the spots where he and the clones once stood. Sayuri relocked on the clones and saw that they moved forward out of her bullets way, they actually moved closer together, just barely out of her aliment. Gritting her teeth, Sayuri relocked and fired again; Naruto noticed the bullet and jumped forward again just in time to avoid the projectiles. Sayuri relocked and fired again, Naruto didn't jump forward this time but stepped forward, cringing at the wind buffering off the projectile that flew past him and buried itself into the earth. Naruto looked around himself at the ground and noticed the perfectly straight lines the bullets had laid out, turning their backs to each other; the clones all stepped back again and saw that the next set of bullets lined up with their predecessors.

"Last shot," Sayuri whispered, "Relocking…" she watched through the scope as the three clones standing back-to-back, all turn their faces up to her, grinning like clueless idiots, "fire!" Naruto and his clones all took one big step forward letting the bullets fly into the earth, Sayuri's eyes widened as she realized how close she was to the ground but it was too late. The clones all whipped up their wires and tangled her and her staff-gun up, forcing the staff to go open end straight into the earth. The steel of her gun-staff was the only thing keeping her from falling over though, she guess that the blonde's wires also played a part in her not falling to the ground.

"Ne~ you did know about the little issue of your trajectories right?" Naruto asked her, grinning in her face, "the farther away you are the farther out your targets can be but the closer you are the closer your targets. In other words you've put six inches of space between the target dots on your scope, meaning if you fire your gun point-blank at the ground your bullets will be perfectly six inches apart in a perfect triangle shape. But if you fired it forty-five meters in the air then you can put about five to eight meters between the bullets—in other words you're firing three bullets at the same time."

"…You're not as dumb as you look," Sayuri replied calmly. Naruto decided that letting her drop to the ground still tangled in his wires was a good idea, the boy with white eyes who told her to fight earlier walked forward and with the help of two others dragged the brunet off to the side where they all worked together to untangle Sayuri from the wires.

"And that's why we don't use guns," Shikamaru drawled, "not as cool as I was hoping for."

"I was a little disappointed too," Ino commented as she put her scroll away, "she didn't even get hurt."

"Remind me to avoid you if I get wounded," Sasuke drawled, "Medics like blood too much to be healthy."

"Hay that's Sakura-chan too!" Naruto shouted at him

"Who's next?" Hama asked, ignoring the bantering between the fifth years

"I am," the soft voice stilled the other kids and made them all look at the girl walking towards them calmly, long black hair swishing softly at her hips. "I am Midori Uchiha, eighth seat of sixth year," Sasuke stared at his cousin with a frown, saying nothing as the girl stopped in the middle of the gap between the fifth years and everyone else.

"I do not belief that chasing one Ami Nanami is a wise decision Sasuke-sama, please reconsider the consequences of you losing this fight." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, it was the first time Ino had thought that her crush might actually decide to start cursing, even Naruto looked at the boy unsurely. Every fifth year was looking at Sasuke expectantly, as if awaiting an order to fight her together or run for their lives. Before any of them could make a choice, a soft thump was heard and everyone turned towards the noise. Further away, a few dozen meters, walking through the tall grass of the field like a ghost was a dark form that was almost obscure from sight because of heat waves in the field.

"Who is that?" Naruto asked curiously, his only answer where the blurring forms of Ino and Hinata who took off as fast as Sayuri's bullets towards the form in blind panic.

"Riko!" Ino screamed, "are you an idiot?!" the brunet held her arms out welcomingly and Ino nearly barreled straight into her, but chose to skid to a halt so she wouldn't hurt the girl. Ino let Riko rest her palms on her arms, holding them apart so she could examine the brunet's body closely, frowning at the thick bandages covering her from head to toe and hiding half of her face. "I knew you were burned but… how bad is this?" Riko sighed and slumped her shoulders, smiling thinly with one teary hazy orb.

"Oh my Kami," Ino reached out, her eyes tearing up as she pressed one palm against Riko's temple, her hand flaring a gentle jade green. Behind her, Ino heard Hinata gasp, her eyes were undoubtedly glowing, seeing the brunet's body in fine detail, every mark or hair thin tear down to a cellular level. Years six through seven watched the fifth years go sprinting towards the girl wrapped up like a mummy, all of them whispering and talking together but careful to keep their distance with the strange new girl. The girl smiled sadly at each of them, taking their hands and patting their shoulders, the only thing she didn't do was speak. The others seemed to have gotten the hint as well, for the blonde girl, Ino, closed her eyes and concentrated, letting every fifth year around her fall into the mental world she constructed. Their following silence was followed by a dark atmosphere forming around them, nearly dimming the afternoon sunlight falling down on them from above.

"Something is wrong," Hama glanced at the young Hyūga standing at the edge, watching the boy flare up his bloodline, flinch back, turn of his bloodline and turn away from the younger kids.

"How bad are her wounds?" Hama whispered, making sure that his face was tilted towards the boy so no one else could hear him

"She should be dead," the Hyūga answered just as softly. Everyone watched patiently and silently as the fifth years formed a kind of bubble around the girl as they walked back to the shade of the Oak tree they claimed upon first arrival.

"Everyone! This is Riko Yamauchi," Naruto introduced loudly, waving a hand at the brunet. Riko smiled and bowed politely, careful not to bend or twist too much that would irate her still healing burns. "She can't talk right now but Ino can make sure everyone hears her voice!"

"Baka!" Ino hissed, "that's a lot of people!"

"What, you can't do it?" Naruto asked as if he was surprised, Ino's brow twitched and she growled like a cat, earning a frightened look from the other blonde. A soft nod from Riko and Ino grumbled under her breath quietly, she closed her eyes and focused, soon enough everyone was listening to a whisper soft voice.

"_I am Riko Yamauchi, fifth year, tenth seat, it's nice to meet you all_," Hama blinked at the polite introduction, surprised that someone in the fifth year was actually raised to have enough manners to greet them without cursing or throwing something sharp.

"_And I will perform in the next fight_"

So much for the poli—

"What?!" At least he wasn't the only one to scream at her, the fifth years did too

"_I will perform in the next fight,_" Riko's soft voice repeated in their minds, "_I too received the token from Sakura-san, I will fight for my light as well. It is my right as an Advanced Ace to fight and prove my dedication to the saving of my teammate, Ami Nanami._" The brunet's summer blue eyes turned icy cold, a dare from a glacier, a warning of a storm, a threat from death, "_do not think my wounds will stop me from saving her._"

"I would appreciate it if you would back down," Midori told the younger girl

"_No,_" Riko's voice was hard and cold, a command from a war vet couldn't be as frigid as her voice

"I won't hold back," Midori warned as her black eyes flared bright red, one tomoe in each eye, before moving like water into a taijutsu stance. Riko looked back at Sasuke, as if seeking permission, and found him staring back at her with an emotionless expression, then he nodded courtly at her and backed away to the shadow of the tree, the other fifth years hesitantly following him.

"No mercy," Sasuke ordered as he crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree

"_Yes sir_," Riko slid into a battle stance, her thighs nearly perfectly level with the ground, her hands raised at the ready, her single blue eye turning ice-blue and just as hard.

"Ch, Let's go!" Midori ordered, charging forward, "you'll regret this!" Sasuke sighed as Riko easily slid into the girl's guard and with hands flaring blinding blue, she quickly tapped the girl's shoulders and hips, forcing her to slam into the ground face first.

"Should've stood with Sakura," Sasuke drawled as his cousin looked up at him, her face twisted up in pain and frustration, "I did warn you." Hinata sighed as she walked forward and grabbed the girl, dragging her off the field to the neutral side by the back of her shirt. Riko carefully walked over to Sasuke and with Ino's help sat down on the cool grass and let the blonde fuss over her with a gentile smile on her bandage face.

"I'm Haru Misaka, year seven, second seat," the boy stared pointed ly at Shikamaru, who groaned as he realized that there was no escape for him in this fight

"Can't you fight Shino?" Shikamaru asked

"I am number two, I should fight someone of equal rank," the boy answered bluntly, "prepare Nara-brat, I will not hold back." Shikamaru sighed heavily and then he was forced to move in order to dodge the lightning bolt aimed at his stomach.

"Geez kid, you aren't going to hold back, are you?" Shikamaru asked as he slid to a stop far to the left of his position, his stance appearing to have not been moved. "Guess that works best for me. I can plan for uses of your attacks for later." The boy said nothing, choosing instead to magnetize his weapons with electricity and sending them at Shikamaru, having them whip and weave around him like lethal wreaths. Shikamaru didn't even bother dodging the attacks, manipulating their shadows into missing him was as easy was as watching clouds to him. Eventually Haru was beginning to lower on energy and Shikamaru took his chance to approach the brunet with an easy calm stride, batting away every attack aimed at him without a seen hand sign or twitched muscle.

"Why don't you just stop now?" Shikamaru asked, stopping several feet away from the boy, "its not like you can win against me anyways." Haru stared at him, his hands set shoulder high and palms facing the earth.

"I submit," the boy said calmly, his weapons returning to his pouches like darts if light streaming through the night sky

"How pathetic!" Shikamaru turned and barely managed to avoid the kunai aimed for his throat, "I'm Mai Inuzuka, second seat, eighth year." A wild haired brunet grinned at Shikamaru, her albino wolf stood at the ready beside her, "I'll take you down!"

"Nope," Shikamaru turned on his heal and walked away, "Shino, Your turn!"

"I called you out prissy-pants!" The girl screamed at him, "be a man and fight me!"

"Why don't I just be a man who keeps his word?" Shikamaru shot back, trading spots with his bug loving friend, "oh and don't kill her."

"That would defeat the purpose of working with her later," Shino replied calmly

"Fine then bug-eyes! I'll take you out!" Mai screamed settling over the ground in her clan's chosen battle stance

"Highly doubtful," Shino replied calmly, raising one hand and sending a cloud of his insects into the air, "I'll win with these alone."

"Cocky brat!" Mai screamed, charging him, only to skid to a stop when she saw her partner floating in the air between them. "Shikoi?" She questioned, looking to her side were the pup was a moment ago, but he wasn't there and she turned frightened amber orbs towards Shino

"Being pathetic, is not being aware of your partner's actions at all times," Shino drawled, lifting a kunai to the severely weakened pup's neck, "As an Inuzuka, your responsibility is to make sure your comrade doesn't get hurt to the point that he can't back you up. So much for a team, you're too self-centered and unaware of your surroundings."

"Your done Mai," Hama said stepping forward, drawing the twos attention, "I will participate in the next match, who is my opponent?"

"Everyone is fighting some one of equal or similar ranks," Sasuke replied as he stepped forward, "if Sakura were here she would fight you for appearance's sake but you'll have to deal with me for now." Shino dropped Mai's partner and stepped back to his classmates, watching the two top ranks as closely as the others in his class. Mai lifted Shikoi and hurried over to Hinata, watching the white eyed girl hover her hands over the pup, twitching her fingers minutely, as if she were playing an overly sensitive piano.

"Sasuke," Naruto called warningly

"Stand down and back away," Sasuke ordered, "No one should be closer than a dozen meters from us."

"You're going to be that messy?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes narrowing at the two top ranks

"It's going to be that serious," Sasuke replied, "Now get out of our way."

"…I don't like his smell," Naruto grumbled as he helped Ino carefully lift Riko to her feet, "It's too much like rotten wood or decaying mush."

"Just say he smells like the earth and be done with it," Ino hissed as they began wobbling away, the other wounded or neutral bound students following close

"The earth smells good Ino, he just stinks," Naruto whined

"Get down!" Shikamaru shouted as he tacked the three to the ground, barely managing to spare them in time to avoid the group of weapons burying into the earth a foot away from Riko's sprawled out hands. "Get up hurry," Shikamaru hissed, spinning onto the balls of his feet and forming one hand sign, he was ready to defend but a white haired teenager was standing in front of him, her snowy white hair floating around her like she was in water instead of on land. Shikamaru pursed his lips but said nothing as Nia smirked at him over shoulder, letting her long hair settle back in place. Two other genin flanked her, looking lazy and relaxed with the number of kunai surrounding them, as if it was as normal as daylight. Shikamaru decided to relinquish protection detail to the eighth years and focus instead on the fight that could've gotten his friends hurt. Instantly Shikamaru had narrowed eyes, he saw Hama and Sasuke flitting through the air, looking like seasoned shinobi battling to conquer the field they stood in. So far the two were remaining distance with weapons, but they were still fighting at speeds that Shikamaru couldn't keep track of. Behind him, Ino was cursing under her breath, trying to tend to Riko's wounds before they put her into shock, Naruto was fussing because he didn't know what to do; help his fellow blonde or watch the fight?

Shikamaru watched the battle closely, ready to defend, suddenly Hama jumped away from Sasuke, flashing his fingers through several hand signs to call back every weapon he dispersed, shielding himself from the Uchiha's explosive tag. Sasuke however used the explosion to hide in the oak tree, where it was more difficult to attack him through the moving branches. Sasuke steadied himself on the branches and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves as he quickly studied the three groups of students below him, trying to decide if this match would be the last for his class year or if each of them were doomed for the rest of the day. To his current view point, Sasuke could see that most of the fifth and eighth years still stood pretty close to Shikamaru, the exceptions being Umeko who was in a coma and Ami because she wasn't in the village. The 'Neutral' category were further spaced out then the fifth years, consisting mostly of sixth and seventh years except for two who stood closer to Shikamaru as if they decided to help the fifth years with their plan. The eighth years stood further out to his right, as if making sure the fight was surrounded on all sides, preventing any sabotage or accidents. Those who remained solidly against the plan to save Ami were less than a handful, as in only Kai Haruno, Haru Misaka and Mai Inuzuka. That told Sasuke that everyone in the neutral position would wait to see if Hama or Sasuke would win, their decision would be based entirely on who won.

_I'm in serious trouble here_, Sasuke thought, only to hiss as a blinding assault of weapons swept past his location; forcing him to perform a quick substitution before a kunai could embedded itself into his chest.

"Katon: Phoenix flame!" Sasuke shouted, Hama blinked at the seven balls of flame aimed at him and easily dodged the projectiles with simple small movements of his feet and light bending of his back. Sasuke wasn't surprised, Hama was a genius weapons master, to be a master with that skill, one needed to perform with minimal movement just because certain situations required discreet movement. It also didn't help that Hama had the ability to control whatever he so desired, he had the ability everyone called 'telekinesis' (Sasuke doubted it was true telekinesis) a special technique that was fairly rare in his clan. In other words, Hama could make a single kunai take out ten people at once or fly through a crowd of a hundred and kill only one; another trick is having a few hundred kunai and shuriken fly at him from all directions and yet none would touch him, they would all return to their masters in less then a second. Meaning there was virtually no weapon in existence that could harm him—Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized something strange. Usually Hama sent weapons back at their owners, everything from cooking pots (one of Naruto's pranks gone wrong) to explosive tags, senbon and even earth shrapnel, some rumors say he could even control falling snow if he put his mind to it. Sasuke leaped as high as he could into the air to avoid an on slot of his own weapons returning to him with lethal accuracy. While Sasuke was in air, he quickly blew out a massive fire ball at Hama, watching how the teen's brown eyes widened and a flicker of doubt made itself known inside Sasuke.

"Earth style: Shrapnel shield!" Hama shouted, weaving through the hand signs just in time to protect himself of the nearly molten ball of flame. Sasuke grinned to himself, a plan forming in his head almost at the same time Shikamaru sat back in realization, Nia glanced back at the Nara heir and saw that he himself had already figured out the Nohara-brat's secret.

_Now your in trouble,_ Nia thought as she returned her attention back to the fight, _taijutsu is your weakest point... little brother._ Hama watched seemingly helplessly as Sasuke started to fall towards him, a wide smug grin stretching his face as his blazing red eyes stared down at the porcupine looking shield. Before the older boy knew it, he was engaging in a hand to hand fight with Sasuke, trying desperately not to step in embers or the lick of flames still remaining around them. Sasuke seemed to be all to happy that his fight was nearing its end, as if he thought he could beat Hama in a match of fists, something he had daily experience in thanks to Naruto's notoriously short temper. Hama gritted his teeth as he felt the heat of a flame licking at his shoulder and an ember shatter into glowing dust that felt like white-hot sparks blooming against his right ankle; he focused on Sasuke's smug face and in a fit of anger and pain, threw a punch at him.

Sasuke ducked under the punch effortlessly

_Weapons are his specialty not Taijutsu, in that area even Sakura could beat him!_ Sasuke thought, only to cough as Hama's knee slammed into his chest, sending him a foot into the air only to nearly slam into the earth when Hama brought his elbow down on his shoulder, making him spin just barely out of the brunet's reach. Sasuke decided that he was an idiot to think that Hama was only good in one field of fighting, there was a reason their physical ed teacher nicknamed him the 'flaming leaf'. With his previous thought running back through his mind, Sasuke remembered briefly his first experience being hit by Sakura in their Taijutsu class, he swore for a week that her flick to his ribs fractured them somehow. That was the exact inspiration he needed to get another plan spinning wildly in his head, and under a second Sasuke was grinning triumphantly again. Hama spun on the back of his foot, sending his other straight at Sasuke's head, knowing that the combined momentum but opposite directions would make the impact seem so much stronger then it was, ultimately causing Sasuke to black out, most likely with a cacution too.

Hama wasn't expecting for Sasuke to slam two fingers into the back of his knee with a chakra-powered boost the Uchiha wasn't known for

Before anyone could realize that Sasuke had actually managed to get a hit on Hama, the older boy was enveloped in a cloud of white dust. Sasuke smiled to himself as he straightened back up and dusted off his hands; he should've known that the ever diligent Hama would never skip school for a meeting with his classmates. After all, he never socialized with anyone he deemed unable to progress his own potential, Hama even deemed his own classmates as unnecessary burdens. Sasuke cursed himself for not seeing the Shadow clone coming, As fifth years they were given the option of choosing what kind of advanced forms of clones they wanted to learn, it would make sense that Hama would chose the one that had the most advantage to him.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino called out, held back only by Hinata who was scanning their immanent surroundings for the real Hama. Hinata nodded courtly after a moment and released Ino, the blonde practically flew across the field to slap glowing green palms against Sasuke's shoulders, trying to heal the burns he received from falling and tumbling in embers and jumping through flames.

"Where's Hama?" Naruto asked, looking around with a frown

"My guess? He's in school," Haru answered blandly, "Of course that book worm wouldn't ditch class for us, he'd rather watch us all get in trouble with our teachers."

"Teachers?" Naruto questioned before realization hit him, "Oh crud! The teachers!"

"Day late, dollar short brat," Naruto paled as a familiar blonde dropped from the tree branches above, quickly followed by several other familiar jonin's, none of whom looked happy. Each of the skipping children stared at their respective homeroom teachers, who looked mad enough to run all of them through an obstacle course from hell. Hotaru took a step forward, eyes clued to the largest group, containing mostly sixth years, imminently half of them disappeared in various forms of teleportation and the dispersion of clones. The result was a snarling blonde as he tore off after the runaways, fingers flying through hand signs as he sprouted three sold clones that each scattered themselves after their silently appointed targets.

"Naruto!" a familiar Sanin barked as he landed into the middle of the field, his eye brow twitching wildly as he glared at the blonde.

"Crap! Run!" said blond was gone before anyone could think of stopping him. Sasuke chuckled as he took off after his teammate, Nia beside him with a content smile on her moon pale face, the three of them never even thought about the consequences of leaving their friends behind for the Jonins to scold. Ino gulped when she caught Azuma's eye and tugged Riko just that little bit closer to herself, as if the brunet was a shield against the elder Jonin. Hinata seemed unmoved by the Jonin's as she waved at Shikamaru cheerfully and then burst into water, revealing that she never actually left the academy. Shino and Shikamaru were both relaxing against their tree, unconcerned with a nagging Jonin balling them out for not even trying to hide that they skipped out on school. Midori actually looked pretty ashamed as her own homeroom teacher balled her out, she looked even more pathetic laying on the ground with her joints looking as if someone set sledge hammers on them and left her laying helplessly under them. Sayuri easily scattered into a thousand leaves, teleporting herself far enough away to start running without having to worry about being caught by her own teacher.

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

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**page 17**


	25. Chapter 25

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 25: the first steps in fighting back

Koomahana

_When you sit alone,_

_Meditate on your faults_

_In conversation_

_Do not discuss the faults of others_

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

It had been one week since he discovered Sakura Haruno's true identity and with every visit he paid her, he became more and more convinced that she was not the lunatic child the deranged follower they found several years ago described her to be. Sakura was everything they had prayed her to be, solidifying his desire to keep her a secret from the council; the only doubt he held came from the letter they retained from Ami Nanami's apartment. Ren was that lunatic woman they retained several years ago, the same lunatic who described the harbinger of Armageddon, and now that woman was their only hope to save the child who was everything her people hated most. Upon the last blood moon of the year, standing in the crimson light shining upon her birth right, the little girl the village adored would become a host to a monster. Ren said that their Hime was only the host, a sign of what was to come, the little girl they raised for the moment up on her tenth year would die and be completely possessed from soul to body by a creature of another world.

A creature Ren called 'Jashin', the master of death

Hiruzen sighed as he stared out his window, watching a small black cloaked figure walk down the main road of his village, heading straight for the main gate. He should've argued more with the child leaving on her own for special training with two very well hidden clans but her reasons for going alone were valid if not alarming. No child, even one in the advanced class, should know the whole and complete story of connections between the five hidden villages, nor should that child be able to come up with the plan to convince those two hidden clans to join the hidden leaf.

_Kumo and Mizu are going to throw a fit,_ Hiruzen thought with a heavy sigh, turning back to look at his desk. There sitting innocently on his desk, was a large scroll containing a suicidal but highly descriptive mission briefing. Her mission would not only take her out of the village but also into enemy territory, it was a mission that was S-class easy and not something a pre-genin child should do. Hell, a child shouldn't even be on it and yet, she was the only one who could complete the mission to some degree of success. Still, that didn't make it right, he wanted her to be with someone, a person who would protect her at whatever cost but wouldn't throw their lives away for nothing, nor could he allow someone who would belatedly disrespect her or not head her orders. If he sent someone with her, they would have to respect her position as leader and listen to her orders without qualm. Hiruzen looked back at the slowly walking figure far below him; a heavy sigh escaped him as the bright moon light engulfed the figure, making them appear to be a haunting visage of a ghost from long ago.

Still, Hiruzen couldn't help but to wonder if he was making a mistake sending that little girl off so soon

"Tenzo," he felt his guard enter the office and slid into a kneeling position in front of his desk, "I take it you are aware of her intentions?"

"Yes sir," curt and short, sharp like a kunai knife to the back

"You are not happy?" he asked, the young man didn't answer him, his silence answer enough, "I have a mission for you to complete."

"Sir?" Tenzo questioned, voice soft, a frown undoubtedly twisting his features

"You are the only one besides myself who is aware of every detail pertaining to the current war at hand," Hiruzen said, "you know everything pertaining to Haruno-chan, Nanami-chan and Ren-san. You are also aware of the cult, the theory of the crimson moons, and the true strength of Sakura Haruno. Correct?"

"Yes sir," Tenzo murmured, as if he wasn't sure what the point was

_Kami-sama,_ Hiruzen prayed as he rose to his feet, _please protect that child._

"You're mission is simple, this is for you to use to protect her," he turned and set the small navy scroll down on his desk in front of the teen, then held up a single black scroll, "Should Sakura Haruno be touched by the light of the crimson moon, use this to kill her."

…

* * *

…

It had been a week since she received the pendent from her teammate, the daily visits from her Kage was her only source of communication to the outside world, he was kind enough to inform her of some of the more classified secrets of their new war and true importance of the crimson moon. Like how the book was right about the last bloody moon being the final key in bringing a demon to life that would destroy the entirety of the world, however the sacrifice for the demon couldn't just be any random girl off the street; the sacrifice had to be a specially trained kunochi hailing from a certain bloodline. The woman who took Ami believed her to be that kunochi, the lost princess of a clan long since forgotten, that was why the woman took Ami; because Ami was supposed to be the one to be possessed by a demon. She was supposed to let her body get possessed by a demon and let her soul get ripped apart until it no longer existed, she wouldn't even get the chance to be reincarnated (as some people still believe in such things). The Hokage even told her about how that woman was wrong, how their information didn't match up with hers and how they knew that Ami wasn't this long lost princess of a family long since dead; the woman was going to kill and destroy Ami _for nothing_. So when the week came to a close, Hiruzen double checked with her doctors about her health and approved her leaving the village to undergo the mission they both agreed would actually help in saving Ami and giving them the upper hand in the war. To keep her from scaring the ever living hell out of her parents, Hiruzen had one of his agents (one of her guards actually) to go shopping for her, retrieving important supplies and clothes that she would need for the travel. he also allowed her to have one last meeting with her clan head, even if she wasn't truly a Haruno, no one else knew that, she had to make sure the wiry and tiered woman wouldn't have a panic attack when she realized that Sakura was gone; the woman was Kizashi's younger sister after all. As Sakura thought and had warned her Kage about, there was of course a fight, Kai was still angry about his lose to Sasuke and still adamant that Sakura was still not ready to take a journey on her own.

The fight ended in a drawl but they both learned something from it, Sakura wouldn't give up and Kai couldn't stop her, no one could

So now, one week after she woke up from her coma, Sakura found herself dressed in a long black cloak with its possibly too wide hood draped over head to hide her hair and face, giving her the appearance of a shadow walking through the night. She existed the kage tower silently, she looked around herself carefully. She was so used to it being a bustling, loud, headache producing annoyance that it was downright creepy seeing it silent like the grave. Deeming it safe, though disarming, she took a few steps forward and stopped. She spun on her heel and held a kunai knife up at the defensive, imminently blocking the silent attack from a senbon chewing Jonin. She relaxed as she faced him, knowing he wouldn't be able to see her face because of the hood, still, her grip tightened on her kunai.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up," the man said smirking around his favorite weapon as he stepped out from the shadows from across the street, feeling curious she stepped forward and met him half way in the darkened road. "Mind if I ask a few questions?" the man asked as he stopped, she pulled her weapon behind the cloth of her cloak and nodded, her eyes darted around and deemed the silent street safe enough, there was no certainty that she'd speak but she'd answer some of his questions with nods if she could. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Can you finish this mission of yours in two months?" she shook her head, she'd need travel time, recovery time, location time and convincing time if she found the clans she was seeking. That alone would take at least three weeks just for the one clan, a month if she was lucky, two if she was unlucky. Then she would need to repeat the processes for the second clan on her list. Purfided none of the hidden villages get in her way, then contacting just those two clans she should be able to come back in four if not five months. She only had eleven months to work with, after (if) she could convince the clans to join her village (even if it is temporary) she would be down to seven or six months worth of training. That meant everyone would have just that amount of time to train and increase their skill to beyond that of just Jonin, she doubted even one person in her year could pull that off, never mind the older kids of her year. She did worry that perhaps she was getting her hopes up for nothing. If they didn't join her, then she'd have wasted six to seven months of her time she could've spent training with her friends and getting strong enough to take on Anbu.

She had to have hope that at least one person from those two targeted clans are willing to join her…

She has to hope

"Can you get strong enough to take out a Kage?" he asked next, it was as if he was suddenly unsure of the questions he wanted to ask. She took in a deep breath and let it out in a heavy whoosh, her shoulders slump and her head bowed—that seemed answer enough. "Can you bring back my student before it's too late?" his voice was whisper soft and his face was one of a parent would give when they were sending their child off to the front lines. For a moment Sakura could only stare at him, surprised that he was the one chosen to teach Ami.

"I see," he whispered, he turned with his shoulders slumped and his head bowed low

"I..." her voice was too soft, making her sound more like Hinata then her usual self, "I..." he hesitated, turning slightly to hear her better. "I... I can try," it was as if she hadn't spoken in weeks, her voice sounding almost foreign even to her own ears. He smiled bitterly and nodded his head, while walking away he lifted one hand and formed a fist in the air, as if he was punching the sky. She watched him leave, watching how his green flank jacket slowly turned black and faded into the darkness of the night, swallowing him as if he never existed.

_I have to do more than try,_ she thought, spinning on her heal and looking out at the horizon with determination, _I HAVE to bring her back__,_ _failure__ isn't an option__._ When she finally reached the gates she hesitated, staring curiously at the empty station that was so normally filled with chunin. She knew it was late but that was no excuse to abdomen the most important station of the village, perhaps there were a few Anbu beyond the gates, protecting them in the safety of the trees. She tugged the hood of her cloak further over her head and glanced around quickly, praying no one would jump out from behind a corner and tackle her, trying to keep her within the city. She stepped forward and this time she made it to the edge of border before she heard something behind her, turning she watched in confusion as several dark forms slowly descended down towards her from the far roofs of the homes dozens of paces away. In tune, eight forms landed in front of her, each kneeling with their heads bowed respectfully, as if they were swearing their allegiance. They each slowly rose to their full heights; making her eyes widen at their identities, she never figured they'd break curfew but there was a first for everything.

"Please stay," the closest girl whispered as she lifted familiar teary azure eyes, "please Sakura-chan, stay." She should've figured that her blonde friend would realize that there was something wrong, she was the only one who could sense the entirety of the village thanks to the mini-village they built a few years ago. It was obvious she would recognize her signature and quickly come up with the reason behind her leaving so late at night.

"I have to go," she whispered raising a hand and pulling her hood back to show her long pink hair had been pulled back by a red hair tie, "Someone has to collect the recluses."

"Then let a Jonin do it," her dark haired childhood friend grumbled as he dusted off his knees, "Seriously, you could get killed and that's just troublesome." Of course her best friend would then make contact with their generation's boy genius; it made her briefly wonder how the other's knew and if they contacted the others of their class.

"It's better than not trying at all," Sakura replied with a huff, "and besides, its not like I'm going alone, one of my instructors is going with me." She turned her attention to the older students, her eyes in particular resting on the boy who has argued with her every word about the plan she's created.

Her cousin, Kai Haruno

"We're each representatives of our class year," Kai answered her silent question, clearly still disliking the plan.

"The eighth years are wiry but are willing to train harder if we eventually decide to join you," a familiar looking Uchiha girl smiled, "not that'll it be a problem. Almost all of us eighth years are getting specialized training regiments from Jonins and masters of whatever art we've chosen to specialize in. So though we are unsure for now, if you succeed in your mission, we are bound to follow you upon your return."

"The sixth and seventh years are also wiry with the plan," Neji sighed, "I, myself, still do not agree with it completely. However Hinata-sama has given her orders and I will participate, as will my teammates."

"The others however have not made a final decision," Kai spoke up, making Sakura's eyes snap back to him, "the amount of success you have with your mission will be the deciding factor."

"The majority of us fifth years are already training to increase our speed, dexterity and knowledge to help with the rescue," Shikamaru added, rubbing at his forehead as if to stave off a headache, his brows pinched together in irritation. "since Umeko woke up this morning, we've all decided to keep Riko and Umeko out of the loop. Slightly more difficult with Riko but at least she doesn't know the whole story. They both are considered to be in unstable mental conditions and need the therapy sessions they're being given, that's the main reason we aren't telling them everything." Sakura sighed at the new information but she did understand, if they were in unstable mental states then it was best for them and everyone to keep them out of the loop until lord Hokage deemed it safe enough to inform them.

"Plus a Jonin by the name of Genma is taking them under his wing," Ino added, "I heard he's a master at the emergency teleportation jutsu." Sakura briefly wondered if that was the same Jonin she just spoke with, the one she promised to try to save Ami, despite him not knowing her identity.

"Even Naruto is getting obsessed with his seals lately," Shikamaru yawned sleepily. "I heard Jiraiya-san muttering about how he'll be a master in a year or less. He's even starting to create his own seals now"

"Good," Sakura sighed with a smile, she might be able to use those seals to her advantage when it came time to fighting. Granted the seals were best when prepared beforehand but a true master could use them in the middle of a fight and not get damaged because of it. She had no doubt that Naruto would aide her, he was the one person (other than Ino, Shikamaru and Shino,) she counted on most.

"Do you have to go?" Ino asked softly, suddenly changing the topic back to the original one, "why can't it be someone else?"

"Because," Sakura whispered, staring determinedly into her friend's worried blue eyes, "no one else has the same abilities as I do. I'm the only one who can convince them to join us, even if it is temporary unison." Ino sighed and nodded her head softly, Sakura smiled sadly and turned on her heel, she lifted her hood and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Silence surrounded the group of children as they stared out into the darkness of the forest, watching it like a wolf would watch its young.

"You didn't tell her," Shikamaru said softly, his voice barely even a whisper, "why didn't you tell her about your clan?"

"She doesn't need to know about us," Kai replied calmly, turning sharp azure onto the young heir. "Weather Kizashi-sama has told her of her place or if he chose to remain silent, it is his choice. We should respect his wishes."

"Even though the knowledge could make her as strong as the legendary three?" Shikamaru asked, with narrowed eyes, "You _know_ she can master all of your family's techniques by the end of the year, you need only to teach her and she will master them."

"And there lies the problem," Kai replied, "if our clan master didn't die years ago, there would be someone to teach her everything we know." Kai sighed heavily and turned away from the two fifth years, not daring to show the pain he felt for the father he lost that day three years ago. "However, fate is not kind even to her most favorite of children. Now I am the only one who can teach the children of my clan and I am as far from a master as one can get."

"If that's the case you should've gone with Sakura," Ino said, stepping towards the copper haired preteen, "that way you both could be masters by the end if the yea—"

"No," Kai interrupted with a snap of his voice, Ino perked at the contempt lacing his voice. Ino was about to reply when something else caught her attention, she turned sharply to face the seemingly endless main road of the village. The other four children turned to see what drew the blonde's undivided attention, they watched curiously as a figure in the distance appeared in the half darkness. Kai squinted into the night, his eyes taking in the awkward shape and trying to fit it with the people he knew, the dark haired girl to his left let her eyes flare bright crimson before sighing and shaking her head in disapproval.

"Hay guys!" a familiar voice rang out, "she didn't leave yet did she?!"

"That idiot," Ino slapped a hand to her forehead, somehow she wasn't surprised by the other blonde's tardiness

"Later," Kai smirked and disappeared in a puff of white smoke, alarming the others who were unaware if his skill level. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the spot the boy once stood, Ino narrowed at the placement before she turned her attention to the silently walking away Hyūga genius, deeming his presence unneeded.

"I have to return home and prepare breakfast before Sasuke-sama wakes for the day," the Uchiha girl smiled and disappeared before Ino could question the strange girl's word choice. In the meantime, the rushing shadow slid to a stop in front of Shikamaru and Ino, panting heavily as he doubled over a small box clutched in one hand. Naruto was dressed in pale blue slacks and his bright orange coat, clearly he just finished something and was in too big of a rush to actually get dressed for the night.

"D-did s-she l-leave y-yet?" Naruto panted out as he looked up at the only two kids left, even going so far as readjusting his green goggles so he could see clearly.

"Idiot," Ino drawled in annoyance, "you're late, as usual." Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, his mouth opened with a scathing remark that would undoubtedly send the both of them into a brawl in the middle of the street.

"She just left," Shikamaru sighed before the two could get into an argument, he ignored Ino's annoyed look in favor of staring pointedly at the corner of the house closest to them.

"NO!" Naruto screamed, not seeing Ino roll her eyes heaven word, "I wanted to give this to her!" readjusting his hold on the box had both kids starring directly at it in confusion, wondering how it could possibly help their friend.

"What is that?" Shikamaru asked, tilting his head to the side

"A box," Naruto grinned impishly, his blue eyes dancing

"Enough idiot," Ino growled, raising a threatening fist, "what's in it?"

"It holds a communication device," Naruto answered with a pout, "It was Sakura-chan's idea."

"A communication device," Ino said slowly, one eyebrow raised as if she was about to give the blonde a heavy dosage of sarcasm-supreme.

"If Sakura came up with the idea, I doubt it'll be as simple as it sounds," Shikamaru interjected before the girl could shoot off her mouth. "Can you tell us what exactly this communication device is?"

"Well yeah," Naruto answered honestly, "it's a scroll she can seal things into, the difference is that this scroll is connected to another one. So what ever she seals into its twin can be accessed by the one holding the other scroll. This way she can remain in contact with us through letters, she can even send us objects too, well, if she wanted too."

"Why would Sakura ask you to make that when she could simply send a message through the trees like Kai can?" Shikamaru asked curiously

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to the side, "you mean she didn't tell you?" Shikamaru narrowed eyes and Ino's frown seemed answer enough, Naruto had his clueless moments but he wasn't oblivious. "Oh, um, Sakura-Chan isn't apart of the Haruno clan." Naruto explained slowly, as if he wasn't sure if he should be telling them what he and Sakura discovered accidentally two years ago.

"What? But she holds their signature pink hair," Ino said in disbelief, "plus her father is the original clan head."

"Sorry to bust your bubble Ino but Sakura is adopted," Naruto replied calmly. "Based on the scroll we created two years ago, her parents died shortly after she was born. The Haruno couple we know as Sakura-Chan's patents are actually unable to have a child of their own. That's why they adopted her nine years ago, her physical appearance matches theirs so cleanly that no one, not even _you_ can question their relation. That's why they adopted her."

_So, that's why Kai didn't tell her about their family,_ Shikamaru thought, giving a depressed sigh as he slumped in his posture, _he knows they aren't real relatives. He can't teach Sakura even if he wanted too... Not that he actually wants too_

"Wait a minute Naruto," Ino stepped forward with a frown on her face, "if you both managed to create something like that, how did you test it? More importantly how do you know it's right?"

"I know that Chakra control plays a big role in its ability, so does the overall amount of chakra the individual has in their well." Naruto infirmed her, "I don't know what Sakura-Chan did to make the scroll accurate, but I do know she had made a total of five smaller versions as test dummies, before she realized that seals were an essential part to its function. Without them it faded in seconds, wasn't as accurate, and only went back two generations."

"So that's how you got involved," Ino said softly, "you're a genius at seals." Naruto blushed brightly at the complement, not used to hearing them from the girl known to insult first and careless later.

"Naruto," Shikamaru called with a touch if annoyance in his voice, bringing the boy back to reality, "how long has Sakura been working on that generation scroll?"

"Oh right," Naruto blushed, "uh, I've been working on my end of it for two years now. I don't know how long she was working on it before she got my help."

"Long enough to work out all the kinks and even improve it," Ino replied with a light frown as she thought. "Hay Na—" Ino flinched back as Naruto let out a shrill, girlish scream. Shikamaru immediately locked eyes with a pair of crimson orbs, he was more than a little relieved to see the little shadow hiding in the corner weave through several hand signs to hide them from the patrol who appeared around the far corner to his right. At the same time Ino jumped forward and wrapped both hands around the other blonde's face, reinforcing her hold with chakra. Once Ino was sure the shadow behind Naruto wasn't going to attack, choosing instead to try and save their ear drums, Ino tugged Naruto away from them so the two of them could hide behind the already armed Shikamaru Nara with his shadow's surrounding him protectively.

"Ino," Shikamaru hissed lowly, clearly not happy with the blonde's mistake

"I can't feel him," Ino replied in distress, "he's like the gray haired Jonin from the test. He's suppressing his chakra to a point that it's barely noticeable." The man rubbed at his ears a little more before regarding the three children.

"What is it Anbu-san?" Shikamaru asked with narrowed eyes, "why are you here?"

"Damn, I thought girls were supposed to have shrill screams?" The man asked himself as he continued rubbing at his sore ear, "huh?" The man looked around himself as if he was seeing something for the first time, "well you're quick... that's a pretty strong genjutsu."

"Answer the question," Ino snapped, shooting a quick appreciative glance at the hidden Uchiha nearby

"Huh?" The man's mask seemed to dip, as if he was noticing the group for the first time, "ah, so you're the Questionnaire. Elwell, doesn't matter, I'm here for the village." Shikamaru really wanted to do something violent to the careless agent, but he knew that it was the careless ones that were the most powerful in the ranks. "I was wondering if you saw my student, Sakura Haruno, here by any chance?" The three children stared dully at him, at this point Ino had released Naruto and had taken her protective stance in front of him and beside Shikamaru. She may not be a strong fighter but she was damn good at surprise attacks, Shikamaru would be able to cover her lack of hand-to-hand fighting with his shadows.

"What?" The man asked, tilting his masked face to the side as he continued staring at them, "is there something on my mask?"

"…_you're_ her teacher?" Naruto asked in disbelieve, staring at the man as if he had two heads. He wasn't aware that the Sprite of their year was taking lessons with an Anbu agent, it did make him wonder just how strong his friend truly was though.

"Yes I am," the man nodded, "I've been assigned to teach Sakura Haruno during her mission."

"What is her mission?" Ino asked curiously, tilting her head to the side innocently

"My apologies, but I am not cleared to tell you that," the man replied calmly, "however, I've been informed that if you make it to Jonin status by the end of the year, then Sakura-san and I will be able to tell you the details of the mission." The three teens perked at the information, their eyes widening. However, that only made them wonder if Sakura was already at Jonin status despite being nine years old, the same age as them. The three shared curious, wiry looks before turning distrusting eyes onto the Anbu agent standing in front of them.

"Why is Sakura taking lessons from you?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes, clearly stating that he didn't trust the masked man.

"Why should we trust you?" Shikamaru and Ino asked at the same time, the three shared confused looks, realizing that they all spoke at the same time. Dismissing the incident, they turned serious eyes back onto the man, Shikamaru and Ino both standing just that little bit closer together so that Naruto was just that little bit more hidden behind them. Hopefully it would give the blonde enough time to retreat if the agent turned out to be an enemy.

"It is because she and I share the same ability," the man replied calmly, "I have yet to get to the stage of combining the natures to form the element we both yield but with this mission I will be able to teach her those finer details. As for why you should trust me, it is because I've been training her for the past two years."

"We don't know that," Shikamaru and Naruto replied calmly together, Ino however remained staring passively at him.

"Alright, I'll believe you… for now," Ino said as she stepped away from the two boys and turned her eyes onto Naruto, "Go ahead and give him the box Naruto."

"Huh? But why?" Naruto asked as he pulled the box a little closer to himself

"I remembered something," Ino answered with a slight frown, "I've noticed for some time, since we erected the mini-village for Hokage-sama, that every week Sakura would spend half a day with a signature that's really hard to keep track of. I've been curious for some time but I was never able to tail her during those sessions and I've never had the chance to track down the signature that's been with her."

"You're saying _he's_ the signature you couldn't keep track of?" Shikamaru asked in surprise

"Yes," Ino agreed, "he's the only one in the village who match's the signature and the only one that remains slightly elusive to the sensing seals." Naruto stared up at the man with a frown on his face, he wasn't aware that there was a weakness to the seal's he created, and now he was beginning to wonder if the attach on the village was as successful as it was because of that weakness. If he had known about it sooner, would he be able to fix the seals before the woman's attack? Could he have protected everyone better if he'd known that? Would Ami have gone missing and consequently have Sakura leave on a suicide mission to save her? Naruto sighed heavily, realizing that there was still much he had to learn about seals, at this rate he'd never be able to look his mother in the eye and say he became the best seal master in the village. It was only thanks to Sakura's curiosity that they even came up with the technique to trace back one's family tree, and after learning who his mother was, Naruto become serious about learning his mother's mastery. He didn't want to surpass her but he also didn't want the family art to die with her, he wanted to have the ability to look at her and say that he understood the reason behind the complex seal painted on his stomach. He wanted to tell her that he understood what was in him and he still loved her because she did it for the village despite knowing that she was going to die.

The kiyobi was her last effort to protect him

"Alright," Naruto sighed, surprising the two kids standing on either side of him; they expected a to do a verbal battle with the over protective blonde. Naruto held the box out in his left hand, which soon flared a bright yellow before an integrate and beautiful scroll work of lines and leaves carved itself onto the wax seal in the center of the box, keeping it firmly closed. Naruto looked up at the man with determined blue eyes, "This box is for Sakura-chan. No one but her can open it, not even me. So don't bother trying to look inside, it'll just explode in your face."

"I understand," the man sighed as he carefully took the box and placed it into his pocket. After which, he turned his attention back onto the three children, each staring at him like little stone soldiers daring him to take the wrong step. "I'll make sure Sakura-san receives this box—"

"You'd better make sure she comes back alive and unharmed," Ino snapped with a glare, "if she has so much as a scratch I'll kick your rear." The man wasn't very impressed with the threat but he also knew better than to underestimate the people his student called 'friends'. With that in mind, he decided to treat the threat like he treated the ones that came from his superior; who had given him a similar line, his was a lot more vulgar and certainly promised a very bloody and painful end if he failed.

"Very well," he nodded and just as quickly disappeared, leaving the children behind to stare at the empty road leading straight to the Kage tower. The three shared looks; Ino in uncertainty, Naruto in worry and Shikamaru in sudden determination.

"Alright guys, let's go," Shikamaru ordered as he started forward. The two blonds hesitated for a moment before smiling brightly and nearly tackling the dark haired Nara heir with laughter echoing around them, still hidden discreetly thanks to his still standing genjutsu. The young crimson eyed girl smiled to herself before she allowed her Sharingan to fade from her eyes and started running across the nearest crimson roof, returning to what little of a home she dared to hold.

All they could do now was hope they made the right choice

…

* * *

…

She panted as she ran down the dark halls, the soles of her feet slapping loudly against the stone, telling anyone with half a brain her exact location. Thankfully she didn't really have to worry about it too much, the maze-like underground tunnels were occupied only by skeletons and the psychotic woman holding her prisoner. She took a sharp turn and went face first into a stone wall, only for her body to light up in bright golden sparks and burst the earthen wall down. She kept running, her eyes narrowing as she realized that she was no longer alone in the maze of tunnels she was being kept in. Someone else was following her, erecting earthen walls every ten feet, expecting her to run out of chakra to force them down. On her eighth wall, she skidded around a sharp turn and jumped over the giant hole in the ground filled with spikes at the very bottom. She heard the person behind her slide to a stop, cursing her loudly as she disappeared into the darkness.

_I'm almost out!_ This was the only route she hadn't taken in the countless number escape attempts, she had been getting plenty of exercise and she was sure that she could out run even the fasts of ninja from her home village. She gasped as she watched something to her right light up and suddenly she was engulfed in flames and screams, pain ate away at her body like leaches to fresh flesh.

"Trying to escape again yeah?" a familiar voice drawled in boredom, "When are you going to learn that we're not just going to let you go?" she caught sight of a dark yellow ponytail sitting atop a body of black with a single crimson cloud on its surface, telling her that she was caught once again by the mad bomber that was following the insane woman.

"No," she whispered brokenly, "please… no…" her mind went blank as darkness surrounded her once more, she doubted she would wake again for another two or three days. They always made sure to keep her out cold while they treated her wounds; she didn't want to know what they do to her when she's not conscious.

_Someone, anyone, please...save me_

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**page 12**


	26. Chapter 26

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 26: departure

Koomahana

**Once again, I had to make this one extra-long, it was the only way to have a clean beginning for the next chapter**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Sakura ran through the trees as calmly as she could, she didn't have the time to double check or cloud over her path, preventing anyone from following her. However the sudden pulse of chakra through the air did force her to the ground, completely surrounded by an Anbu team dressed in purest black. Releasing a breath, she calmly rose to her feet and regarded the figure dressed in a white cloak, she assumed him to be the leader of the team surrounding her.

"I take it your my escort detail?" Sakura asked as she pulled her hood back just enough to reveal her face. The man before her nodded courtly, and turned to lead the way north; seeing Sakura not move to follow him, he turned slightly back to look down at her. "I'm going east first," Sakura answered his silent question, pointing in the designated direction, "the chance of success is higher if I start there."

"The east is a war zone," the agent to her right said stiffly, "you can't seriously think you can succeed in your mission there do you?" That sentence told Sakura that they knew only the bar minimum of her 'mission'.

"Do you have a better idea?" Sakura asked in return, startlingly the man. "There are a possible five or six strong bloodlines still remaining within Mist's boarders. If I can contact the clan heads of those bloodlines, I might be able to save them from complete destruction. However I must go east first if I wish to save any one. I'll head north later, after I've made contact with the clans in the east. Especially if I can make contact with the ones I have in mind."

"And just who do you have in mind?" The captain asked curiously, Sakura turned icy-green eyes onto him, well aware that there were times when she could make a vitrine feel uneasy. The stiffening of his shoulders and straightening of his spine told her that she had such a look on her face as she replied in a low and court tone of voice.

"I cannot tell you that," Sakura answered calmly, watching the moon light slip through the branches over head fall upon his painted mask eely. "it's no disrespect to you, it's simply a promise I made to lord Hokage. Only those he deems necessary to the mission are permitted to know the details." One accidental insult later, Sakura was listening to the gentle rhythmic sounds of a half asleep forest, when she realized just how rude she sounded.

"What ranking is your mission?" The captain asked before she could apologize

"I've been informed that everything is classified," Sakura replied calmly, "my task is to only tell you what is necessary. Right now what is necessary is the direction I need to travel in. East." The man sighed, as if disappointed with her, he nodded slowly and jumped into the nearest trees, quickly followed by his team and the girl. They weren't in the trees for a moment before a girlish scream echoed through the trees, coming from the origin of the village.

"Don't worry," Sakura sighed when she saw the two men on either side of her turn towards the direction they just came from.

"Do you know who that was?" The agent to her left asked

"Yup," Sakura smiled fondly, "it's just the village's number one knuckle head." The team was quite for a moment, Sakura smiled as she waited for the question that always seemed to follow her careless explanations.

"Who?" The captain asked

"Naruto Uzumaki," Sakura clarified with a chuckle, "don't worry about him, a ghost could scare him."

"Ghosts don't exist," the agent behind her drawled unimpressed

"That's the point!" Sakura laughed, the agents snorted and shook their heads in amusement, seemingly understanding the girl's wording in regards to her friend. The ever curious agent to Sakura's right started to ask questions about her friends and Sakura seemed all too happy to retell some amusing games or pranks they've played on a few chunin. Even when night turned to daylight, only to return to night, the team continued to run unhindered by the young girl's stamina. It was as if she was used to running at the speed they were at, seemingly uncaring for the amount of time that had passed. There were a few times when the captain wanted to call for a break but looking back at the young girl they were escorting to the border, revealed that she wasn't even remotely tiered. By sunrise on the second day, the team reached the border land of Mist and fire. Standing on the edge of the river, the group nearly collapsed in relief when Sakura walked over to a nearby bolder and sat down. She put her bag on the ground beside her, curled up into a little ball, tugged her hood over her face, and promptly went to sleep. Staring at the girl in disbelief, the team tried not to trip over themselves as they tried to set up camp, not sure if they should still follow the girl through the border land and leave her at the very edge of Mist territory or if they should depart here. Sakura remained asleep until the sun was beating down on them from directly overhead, filling her cloak with unbelievable heat. Sighing tiredly, Sakura pushed herself up and let her cloak slip from her upper body as she sleepily took in her new surroundings. Barely a dozen steps from her was the one kunochi in the unit, standing as if she was just about to make way towards her.

"What is it?" Sakura asked sleepily, "how long have I been asleep?" The woman finished approaching her and crouched in front of her, she calmly handed over a few ration bars as she spoke softly and simply.

"You've been out since dawn, so eight hours," the woman answered simply. "I was wondering if you were hungry... Or if you would like a bath before continuing your mission."

"Food is a good start," Sakura smiled at the woman as she took the nutrient bar. However, before she could pull back, the woman grabbed hold of her wrist, startlingly Sakura as she examined the knot-work bracelet created from branches, only to grab her other wrist and examine the other bracelet carved from purest silver. The solver bracelet was the one condition the Hokage had in permitting her departure from the village, this way he could always find her and do subtle check ups without having to read boring mission scrolls.

"Who did this?" The woman asked lowly, her voice cold like ice, as if she was promising someone's death, and moved Sakura's right hand up to she was speaking about the wooden bracelet.

"A relative," Sakura answered simply, pulling her arms back, "don't worry about it."

"Sprite, that bracelet on your arm—"

"Is going to kill me?" Sakura interrupted with a raised eyebrow, "I know."

"If you know, why are you so…" The woman's voice died off as Sakura gently pulled her bangs back, smiling bitterly at the masked woman. There, sitting perfectly centered was a tiny new leaf of the lightest jade green and so thin it was nearly transparent, the veins in it were like pure silver lines marking its preferred path in mockery.

"This will keep it in check," Sakura said, "he gave me a year before the bracelet would activate and start climbing."

"And the leaf?" The woman asked softly, as if she was afraid of the answer

"It's an anomaly," Sakura shrugged carelessly. Suddenly the woman stood straight up, making the girl jerk back at the sudden movement.

"Captain! We're going for a bath down steam!" There was no room for argument in her voice and Sakura could only yelp as the woman helped her to her feet and started dragging her down river, the three others did nothing more than wave. Just a hundred feet down from their resting place was a small pool of water that had a constant flow of water from the river, yet it was shallow enough to be heated by the sun. Sakura wasted no time in undressing and soaking blissfully in the warm water, the woman soon joining her with her mask still in place.

"Hay, can you tell me something MS?" Sakura asked as she stared at the azure sky over head, "why did you become an Anbu agent?" The woman was quiet as she gently scrubbed at her kegs, thinking about her answer, trying to remember the reason from so long ago.

"I suppose I just followed the path laid out in front of me," the woman answered, "I come from a long line of Anbu agents, my ancestors were some of the first ones chosen by the Nidaime. Guess I never stopped to think why I shouldn't follow them..." Sakura smiled as she closed her eyes, pulling herself up, Sakura started to scrub at her arms slowly, careful of the bracelets weighing lightly on her arms.

"I want to prove someone wrong," Sakura said so softly the woman almost didn't gear her, "I was told long ago that someday the village would be destroyed, because that was the fate of all great nations. The stronger they are, the harder and faster they fall." Sakura sighed as she returned to staring at the sky, eyes locking in on the faint crescent hovering in the great blue sea she called 'sky'. "They said the village would fall and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I want to prove them wrong. I want to show that I'm strong enough to protect my home and that it won't be destroyed without a fight."

The woman hummed to herself, lost in thoughts Sakura wasn't aware of, and together they cleaned themselves until their skin shown pink and their hair gleamed in the sunlight. About an hour later saw the two of them fully dressed and sitting on a large rock, the woman was pulling and tugging at Sakura's hair gently pulling it back from her face. While the woman played with Sakura's hair (gracefully pulling her bangs into long braids that she then tied together at the back, holding it in place with a thick hair tie), she was humming a favorite hidden leaf song. Sakura knew the words well, having heard them from her mother often when she went to bed, learning it at her school and even singing it at the yearly festivals the hidden leaf held. Sakura was dressed in her now traditional quipao dress; it was bright crimson with her clan's symbol of the everlasting white circle repeated around the edges of her skirt and sleeves, creating a thick white band. The woman was wearing her Anbu standard black uniform with the silver breast piece, she apparently only brought back ups of the same outfit.

"You know something," the woman started softly as she finished Sakura's hair, "I think I'm gonna do something possibly stupid."

"Huh?" Sakura turned to look back at the older woman only to have her world turn black

…

* * *

…

He walked into his home, as silently as he could, trying desperately not to wake the dozens of small forms lining the floors and walls of his house. Three years ago their compound had been destroyed by a couple of lunatics, their clan of nearly two hundred had been reduced almost in half, almost every survivor was a child younger ten and every teen they had was at most sixteen, leaving him alone with only two adults, not including his own parents and older siblings. They had yet to fix their home for the terrified orphans, even now not even half had a bed to call their own. They were still arguing with a land owner in the western woods, still bickering with the council, still negotiating with the Hokage, still whispering to the trees; all they wanted was a home to call their own. None of them felt safe on the ground, none of them felt secure or welcome being so exposed to strangers of human and animal alike, none of them liked being so weak and helpless. His uncle was their weakest member in clan techniques but he was also the rightful heir, even now though, he refused to return to them, choosing instead to remain with his wife and 'comatose' child. He didn't know she was healthy enough to be walking around, that she was so strong in fact that she was leaving the village without his knowledge and leading a mission that no one but the Hokage even knew about. He heard one of the children whimper in her sleep and he froze, hunching his shoulders as if that would make him invisible, but the tiny little girl hick-upped and rolled over in her bed, facing away from him. He sighed and carefully maneuvered around the last remaining beds of the main room and entered the empty hall, he tried to be quiet as he carefully entered his room shared with three others a little older then himself. Inside the two sets of bunk beds were uncharacteristically accompanied by another small body laying sleeping soundly on the floor, laying haphazardly so it would be a little more difficult for him to enter his own bed without waking the sixteen year old. He sighed and was beginning to feel a hundred years old as he stared at the girl's sleeping face, a little bit of drool slipping out of her mouth as she snored in her sleep; at least she didn't sound like a boat horn like her brother who just had to sleep in the bed over his.

_I'm beginning to hate twins,_ he thought, stepping carefully around the girl so he could sit on the edge of his bed. He decided not to change back into his nightwear and just removed his cloak and jacket, anything else was a potential noise that could possibly wake up the other four people in his now shared room. Laying down on his bed he sighed and felt his body relax into the mattress, there was still something odd about it, as if he felt he should be sleeping somewhere else.

"Kai-kun," he stiffened at the soft whisper, so did the soft snores of his bunk mates, that only told him he wasn't as stealthy as he previously thought, they knew the moment he left and the moment he returned. Great, the snitches would tell his mother and she would undoubtedly hang him from the nearest tree while she scolded him about curfews, rules and regulations.

"Did she leave?" he sighed at the girl's soft whisper, of course they had been keeping track of their 'rightful' heir, the same as him, "Will she come back?"

"Someday," he answered with a whisper, "Go back to sleep Ai."

"…will we have to fight them?" she asked instead, "The men who stole our home, will we have to fight them to protect her?"

"She's not a relative and you know it," he said sharply, "quite treating her like she's kin." He rolled over, deeming that to be the end of the conversation but his mind was cruel and instead took him to memory of the previous day, reminding him of his actions and the test he was forced to perform.

A test their last hope failed to pass

…

"_Please__ understand that we can't just let you leave,"__ his mother said, a tone of pleading tilting her voice a touch too high. She sat between the two adult survivors, the unspoken the leader of their clan until Kai became of age to leaf. "Your a few years too young but if your absolutely sure you must go tonight there is a test you have to partake in. It's the only way we can assure your safety and gauge your level of skill, if you pass you may travel with whomever lord Hokage deems fit enough yo be with you but if not then you must wait until you can pass the test."_

"_I understand__," Sakura smiled at the blonde, "I __knew__ you __would have some kind of test to permit me leaving the village, lord Hokage understands too__." __his mother__ smiled before her eyes widened as Kai slammed a kick into Sakura's stomach, nearly making her fly across the small field of __their back yard__. Instead Sakura back flipped and skidded to a halt at the edge of children, crouched low and ready with a glare on her face._

"_Kai that was rude,"__his mother scolded__, __"I understand you want to protect her but surprise attacks are uncalled for right now." __Kai ignored her and swung an Ax-kick for Sakura's head, only to give a quick retreat as she brought up a kunai that was aimed right for the tendon stationed on the back of his ankle. If he lost that tendon, he would be unable to become a shinobi and would never leave the village much less ever __walking straight again__._

"_Not on the battle field__," __his uncle drawled__still cradling their youngest clan member as if his life depended on it__, watching Kai and Sakura study each other as if seeing the other for the first time. "Our enemies won't think twice about attacking while we're distracted. A True Shinobi can multitask: attack their enemy, protect their allies, and plan for a quick success." Sakura jumped forward at the same time Kai did, they met together in a dead lock, Kai blocked Sakura's kunai with his own and Sakura blocked his kick with her raised arm, refusing to budge despite the power behind the kick._

…

"Kai -kun," Ai called gently, "did you have to put a forbidden curse on her?"

"it was accidental," Kai said gruffly, "go back to sleep."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have played with a forbidden jutsu," one of the boys said in a voice of contempt

"...go to sleep you guys, the morning is going to be pretty hectic,"

No one answered as the cold night wore on and on, as if reminding them of the little flame they abandoned just because of its different origins

…

"_Spring Style: Strangle Dangle!" Sakura blinked dumbly at her cousin, one eye brow rising at the absurdity of the name before giving a startled yelp as something wrapped around her and lifted her high into the air. Wrapping around her body was thick branches from the oak tree __in the further back reaches of the yard__, Sakura coughed as the branches slowly tightened around her body._

"_That would be our clan specialty," Kai said as he stared up at her with hard blue orbs, "We specialize in Nature manipulation." Sakura ground her teeth together, growing madder and madder with every word her cousin spoke, she was never aware of her family having shinobi much less a special ability only they could perform._

_"__The mere fact that you can't get out of that on your own, proves just how week you really are," __their uncle said as if he was talking about how blue the sky was. "you are still too young to travel on your own, return to your home at once child, your parents are worried."_

_"If I give up now I won't have parents to ho home too," __Sakura snarled at __the man__, with a burst of power she forced the branches away from her, nearly ripping them apart with her wind attach. Kai __sighed__as he__ weaved a few more hand signs __and__ patting the earth again, before Sakura could fall two feet, the branches__ of the oak tree__ tangled themselves into her hair, electing a pained scream from Sakura._

"_This is the weaker version of the forever-bind-seal," Kai said calmly, "the branches will slowly and painfully meld with you until you die. However it's a known fact that if they reach your head you're done for." Sakura hissed as her __aunt gasped, her baby blues widening as she realized for the first time just how strong her son was. __"__Please understand this imoto, we will not sit by and watch you die__," Kai __said hashly, his own blue eyes hardening into a glare__, "Once those branches reach her head, they'll go no further. __Your__ body will be left to rot while __your__ head becomes forever a part of that tree, forced to dangle for eternity in never ending agony__. Give up now!"_

"_What kind of __idiot__ are you?!" __they all turned at the sharp voice of one of their cousins rounding the corner__, "she's your cousin! She's family! You should be protecting her! Not sentencing her to death!"__ Ai screamed shrilly at him, ready to interfear but stopped at the sight of his mother's raised hand_

"_T__his is a test Sakura-chan must pass on her own Ai-chan__," __his mother informed the teen__, turning glassier blue irises onto the __copper haired__teen__, making her take a fearful step back. "Once someone betrays us, we stop at nothing to destroy them. Forgiveness is not an option, failure isn't an option either. If we must, we will commit suicide and take that person with us to the other side."_

"_That's insane," __Sakura__ hissed__, tears pricking her eyes in pain__, "__I__ didn't betray you!"_

"_If you leave the clan before you are ready then that is the same as betrayal__," Kai replied_

"_I..." Sakura coughed as she reached for her long locks, tears pricking her eyes, "I'm not like you!" with a swipe of her kunai, Sakura freed herself just before the branches could entangle further into her hair, "I refuse to give up!" Sakura screamed, slamming her palms together, "Futon: Tornado knife!" Kai cursed as a rotating blast of wind surrounded him, ripping at his clothes and tearing at his hair. Sakura landed onto the ground, one knee denting the earth and one leg out stretched to the side, one hand braced on the ground and the other held at the ready over her kunai pouch._

_Damn!__ Kai thought, staring at his younger cousin through half open eyes, trying to protect his sight from the harsh wind attack, __I have to stop this or I'll end up as minced meat! __Closing his eyes, Kai formed two quick hand signs, the nearest tree bent nearly in half, plucked him from the rotating tornado and pulled him into the safety of the branches high overhead. __That was too close__, Kai thought panting, his blue eyes clued to the place he once stood, in his place the tornado dissipated and revealed a deep perfectly round scar in the earth. It looked as if the center was completely untouched from the attack but the very edges of the tornado were where all the real damage took place. It made him briefly wonder if perhaps his cousin was holding back in their fight but the glare Sakura gave him in his well-hidden place where only a Yamanaka or Hyūga could find him, had Kai doubting in that possibility._

"_That was reckless," Sakura growled as she rolled to avoid another set of kunai and then quickly jumped into the air, swinging herself onto the lowest branch of the nearest tree. Knowing the weapons didn't come from her cousin, Sakura turned her attention to the three adults on the porch, eyes narrowing in confusion._

"_Reckless is not noticing the leaf on your forehead or the branch twirled on your wrist," her uncle drawled lazily, "Kai doomed you from the start of this." Sakura gasped and looked down at her right wrist, true to the man's word a small branch was wrapped snuggly around her wrist, tight enough to remain in place but lose enough to allow movement. The thin branch must've grabbed hold of her when she cut her hair and the leaf on her forehead must've __reached her when she started falling the second time__. If that was the case then as her cousin said, then the branches wouldn't cease growing until they reached her head, so the leaf on her forehead should be fine but the branch on her wrist was the real problem. It would continue growing until it reached her head, where she would most likely die and the branch would continue living, using her body as nutrients._

"_Get down here Kai!" Sakura snapped__ furiously__, "you won't play nice so neither will I! No more holding back!"_

_"Enough," they both turned to look at his mother, surprised beyond words at the harsh tone of voice. "Sakura-Chan... Why did you not use the branches to attack Kai?"_

_"I," Sakura hesitated before she answered truthfully, "I was unaware my father held a bloodline."_

_"In other words Kizashi did not teach you our ways," their uncle summarized, "that can only mean that you are not a true member of the Haruno clan."_

_"Nii-san," his mother gasped at him_

_"Your right," Sakura agreed, interrupting any argument anyone else had to through at him. "My parents don't know that I know I'm adopted and I have full intentions of making sure they continue to believe that I am their daughter."_

_"...If you are not a Haruno, then who are you?" Kai asked slowly, as if he couldn't understand the possibility of not being related to her. they did grow up together, her father and his mother were step siblings, they often played together on the days their parents weren't bickering and Kai had all to affectionately started calling her 'imoto' a small sign of his love for her._

_"I am not a Haruno by blood but by adoption," Sakura answered, "my blood parents are dead and as far as I'm concerned, Mebuki-kaa-san and Kizashi-otoo-san are my parents by birth. After all unconditional love, can not be doubted by what a little piece of paper says. I am their daughter, weather or not you like it is your problem, not mine."_

…

He fought so long and hard to keep her safe, rising through the seats of the Advanced Course of the Academy, trying to make sure no one would dare harm her through her relation to him but it was for nothing. She wasn't even his kin, she was not a true Haruno and in a way, he should've seen it when they first met. She was so small and shy, as if she thought everyone not directly related to her was a bully or a stranger she should be wiry of. Most Haruno kids were out spoken, energetic and as goofy as any ADHD kid given a pound of sugar, which was a really good description of most of their children. But she was the exact opposite of every cousin's ever met, she was calm and polite, almost fearful of kids her own age, as if she was distrustful but was steadily working through it. Instead of playing with other's in their clan she would often run to him, either hiding behind him as if he were a shield or seeking to learn what he was reading.

She was his imoto just as he was her Nii-san

Just how was he supposed to break that bond?

…

* * *

…

"Where are they?" The captain asked softly as he turned towards the direction the two females had gone. It was well past an hour and he was beginning to think that something could have happened, although what he wasn't sure. He and his team were there when the Sprite had set the emergency explosives off and set the whole north-east entrance hall a flame, trying desperately to destroy their enemy. As such he wasn't aware of anyone being able to attack the girls without getting a face full of explosives that most certainly would've caught their attention.

"No need to fret," his comrade drawled while he stretched, "they're coming." True to the sensor's prediction, the two missing girls appeared around a crop of rocks and approached them slowly, Sakura returned her cloak back around her shoulders, hiding her clean clothes from sight.

"Are you ready to continue?" The captain asked Sakura as she and the woman came to a stop in front of him

"As much as I'll ever be," Sakura admitted softly as she took her bag from the captain, at the feel of the extra weight she snapped her eyes up to him, silently demanding an answer.

"None of us can follow you from here on," the captain said, "so each of us has decided to give you something that should help you while on your travels." Sakura's eyes slid over to the woman, as if that explained something that happened between them.

"So if you guys aren't going to go any further, does that mean that there's another team on the other side of the boarder that's going to take me the rest of the way?" Sakura asked, staring up at the tall captain curiously

"I am not aware of anyone following you past this point," the captain replied simply. Sakura stared at him for a moment, as if she expected to hear a punch line or was waiting for someone to jump out and scare her. The moment she realized that he wasn't joking was the same moment Sakura was thumping her head against the nearest bolder, her face had lost all of its color and she was mumbling mournfully under her breath.

"I was sure he'd send someone," Sakura grumbled fretfully to herself, "despite all my reassurances I thought he was going to send someone with me anyways." The captain sighed as he realized that the 'Sprite' was still a little girl and as such, she was still afraid of being alone, especially for a mission that would take her all across the map and far away from her loved ones. Just as the captain was about to say something, a chakra pulse from the forest alerted him to the fast approaching individual racing towards them.

"Sakura!" The pinkette turned towards the voice, her green eyes teary as she watched a man jump out of the trees, a smile on his face as he descended towards her; Sakura smiled at him, as bright and warm as the sun.

"You're late!" Sakura screamed as she slammed a fist into him and sent him flying through the air in the opposite direction he was originally heading.

"You're damn lucky I saw that coming," Sakura snapped around to stare wide eyed at the crouching man on the bolder just behind her, the same one she was thumping her head against. "Huh, your strength has increased. He was torn apart upon landing."

"Sempai," Sakura growled lowly, "you're late!" She shouted, pointing at him in frustration, "more importantly why can't I ever hit you?!"

"Well that's simple," the man smiled at her, "I've had more training then you, not to mention how many more years of experience I have then you _and_ the specialized training I've received."

"If you don't want to mention it then don't!" Sakura retorted hotly, clearly she was annoyed that she hit his clone instead of him

"Ah captain, thank you for bringing her all the way out here, I can handle the rest from here out," the man said as he turned to the Anbu captain nearby, ignoring Sakura's retort

"Understood Captain Nymph," the man said with a smile in his voice, "what is your designated alias?"

"I told you not to call me that," the young man replied with a pout. The white cloaked captain snorted in amusement and seemed to roll his eyes at the younger man, apparently that wasn't something the younger man appeared to like being called.

"Hay sempai, he has a point," Sakura said not catching the jab between the two captains, "what about our alias? Do we really have to use them?"

"I'll go over them in a moment," the man replied calmly, "say your good byes so we can continue with our mission."

"Fine," Sakura huffed, turning towards the closest agent, "bye lady, thanks for doing my hair."

"No problem Sprite," the woman seemed to smile at her as she placed a hand on her hip, "it's the least I could do after everything you've done for us."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked bluntly, "I haven't done anything for you."

"You were able to distract that woman who attacked the village," the captain replied calmly, "we were the ones who tried to pull you out of the earth after the explosion."

"Oh!" Sakura gasped in realization, and then again in sickened remembrance, "_oh_~_._" The Anbu agents snickered in amusement, finding the girl's green face amusing. After saying goodbye to the other three members of the team, the young man and Sakura both departed from their homeland. It didn't appear as if Sakura looked back even once as they raced across the river, but the team smiled as they lifted off their masks and waved to the young girl now standing on the far side of the river. She smiled back at them and waved in return before she jumped into the trees and followed her partner through the strange, new lands. Sakura wanted to look back again, but knew she would never complete her mission if she was always looking back at her home. For now she would have to keep an eye on her teacher's back and trust in him completely, she would have to obey every order without question or complaint. It would be the only way she could return home in one piece.

"Are you okay?" The man asked as he stopped on a branch and looked back at her

"Yes sir," Sakura answered quickly as she landed beside him, "I was just wondering why we were in the trees when we could be traveling on the ground, isn't that safer?"

"For avoiding other shinobi, yes," the man agreed, "for now we need to get as far into mist as we can without detection."

"Yes sir," Sakura nodded courtly and hurried forward to be with her teacher

"For this mission, I want you to do something," the man said when Sakura landed on the thick branch beside him. "It would simplify things if you called me nii-san." Sakura stared at him in surprise before staring bluntly at his almost black hair, exaggerated almond shaped black eyes and his deeply tanned skin.

"I'm not dyeing my hair," Sakura drawled warningly, clearly against anything that would mean harming her facial or physical features

"That would create too many problems," he replied calmly, as if he expected the response, "so I'm going to do something later with your help."

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked curiously

"It's a very difficult jutsu to preform, the main reason why I want us to cross the border as soon as possible," he glanced back at her, "after performing it, we both will be too weak to run and our chakra will be too low to be of any use to us. That's why I want to wait to perform it, it takes a lot of power to perform and maintain."

_Plus it'll aid our 'civilian' appearance,_ Sakura thought as she followed her partner through the trees

…

* * *

…

"_What do you have to report?_" he stared up into the ringed eyes of his leader, a smirk on his face as he began to retell everything he knew about the girl he helped take from the hidden leaf. He spoke of the girl's remarkable skill for lock picking, her abnormal dexterity, her freakishly-inhumanly flexible spine and how he often had to use chakra just to keep up with her when she started sprinting through the halls. They had long since placed specially created silver bracelets on her wrists, designed to disrupt her chakra frequency so she can't use it. But half the time it was as if she was used to the bracelets, like she grew up with them on, her immediate adaption to the bracelets threw all of them for a loop and she ended up getting the freedom to escape her cell multiple times over the course of the past few days. She didn't need chakra to sprint at a blinding speed, she didn't use chakra to climb up a wall and hide in its upper corner, she didn't even use chakra to knock out five fully grown and well-armed men.

"_Keep an eye on her and report back next month_," his master ordered, mildly impress with the information his subordinate gathered

"_No promises,_" he replied with a slight frown, "_this woman is smart, she doesn't let me stray too far and almost never lets me out of her sight._"

"_Are there other's with her?_" he asked, purple, ringed eyes narrowed

"_About a dozen others as far as I can tell,_" he answered, "_oh and one more thing. The girl's name is Ami Nanami and she wants to return to her home village. So far every time she wakes up she starts running, no matter who gets in her way, even with the chakra sealers on her wrists she's still one fast little runt._"

"_Her mind is stable?_" he asked as if the realization just struck him

"_As__ stable as Konan's,_" he replied, "_she hasn't harmed anyone yet, then again I'm the only one who can keep up with her when she starts running. She might not be a battalion type, the village must've taught her something else or didn't teach her anything shinobi related. I mean other than running like the wind and not using chakra for anything kind of training, which is weird because shinobi rely heavily on chakra. You think she has access to her chakra network? I mean without the bracelets suppressing her chakra, you think she can access it on her own?_"

"_It could be that all of her attacks are chakra based,_" his leader replied calmly, "_it sounds as if the girl is a ninjutsu specialist._"

"_Heh, no wonder her Taijutsu sucks,_" he snorted and rolled his eyes, "_and that's something coming from me!_" he was undeniably the worst in their entire organization in regards to Taijutsu skill, even their resident puppet master had better Taijutsu skills then him

"_Deidara, if you have nothing worthwhile to say, shut up,_"

"_Leader-sama…you're mean,_" he said it in the same way a little kid would scold an adult for 'being mean'

"_How can a fully grown man still speak like a six year old little kid?_" leader asked with a heavy, disappointed sigh

"_I'm only sixteen,_" Deidara pouted

"_How are you even an S-class Ninja?_"

"_That hurt Leader-sama, that really hurt,_"

"_Contact me when you have some useful information,_" he rolled his eyes

"_Don't I always?_"

"_Goodbye Deidara, don't die_," his image shimmered out of existence

"_Don't jinx me!_" he shouted in mild panic

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful, Opinions are wonderful, Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay? Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 13**


	27. Chapter 27

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 27: the first and second month

Koomahana

**I am not going month by month, that's too much time for each chapter and each chapter is going to be all kinds of different lengths, so no, not happening. In the beginning the chapter might start off with, say, 'first month' but the end of the chapter could be closer towards the end of that month or in the middle of the second month. Yes I'll be doing large time skips for these chapters because I'm impatient and don't want to spend the extra time of following Sakura's every step through her journey across the map—not happening. If you want to write up a little scene you think should be added, go ahead and write it up and send it to me, I'll either add it in somewhere with a heads up to readers as to who wrote the scene or decide it clashes with the time frame and not use it.**

**Either way, the writer will be given the a heads up of whatever my final decision is going to be**

**With that notice, I hope you like the chapter! **

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

He watched helplessly as his mother stood protectively in front of him, his father was crying as he held that knife high, his whole body trembled as their neighbors watched on with cold fury and pure hatred. His father let out a sob and his arm started to come down, one of the neighbors snarled and pushed him forward, his mother screamed seeing the knife lower dangerously close to her husband's stomach. She tried to grab at it but something strange happened instead, something from beneath the ground shot up and wrapped around each of them, holding the cursing neighbors back while the knife was sent sailing out of his father's hand. His father collapsed to his knees sobbing uncontrollably, his mother soon joining him as she tried hard to console him, whispering how she understood and that everything was okay. He sniffed a few more times, not understanding why his father went from trying to kill them to suddenly begging for forgiveness, nor did he understand why his mother was actively _forgiving_ him.

"Heh, not half bad imoto," a voice outside of their home commented dryly, he watched as his parents turned towards the masculine voice, fear and terror made their whole bodies tremble almost uncontrollably. In the door way to their home stood a tall, young man with dark russet hair and amused hazel eyes, his face was almost completely obscured by a mask designed to keep everything but his eyes warm. "Though it appears that you missed a few of them…" the teen drawled as he looked down at his father and mother, not sure of what to make of the crying mess of adults in front of him.

"I did not," a high pitched, girlish voice whined at him, the teen shifted as a much smaller body moved into the doorway, observing the six individuals inside the mud and straw home. Without thinking twice about it, the girl looked at the three still cursing neighbors and waved a hand, making the roots holding them up wrap around their mouths and silencing them.

"What a couple of brutes," the girl sighed, "I thought adults had more manners then dyeing rats?" the girl asked as she turned to look up at the boy beside her, as if she expected him to confirm this statement.

"Most do," the boy chuckled, "though for future notice, perhaps you should just wrap up everyone instead of just a select few. You could've made a mistake and wrapped up the family instead of the three stooges." the neighbors howled furiously at him but were ignored by the siblings easily

"Do you seriously think my judgment is that bad?" the girl asked, tilting her hooded face towards the family, "the boy is malnourished. If we don't do something he could come down with ammonia or hyperthermia…" his parents gasped and snapped around to regard him with wide scared eyes, he remained trembling in the corner of his home, still wiry of his father and still fearing for his mother. "The woman has been suppressing her chakra for so long it barely feels like a flicker of candle light, she might've forgotten how to use it." His mother sniffed and gave them a slanted eyed look that said she was insulted for their analysis, as if she didn't approve of being taken so lightly.

"The man is a civilian, no doubt about that, his stupidity concerning bloodlines is only further proof of his ignorance." His father closed his eyes, knowing that the girl was right but her words still hurt, he wasn't so foolish as to act as if she were wrong. For crying out loud he was about to kill his wife! The woman he swore to love and cherish no matter what!

"Well what do you think Nii-san?" the girl asked as she turned back to the man, "You think they'll take up the offer?"

"Maybe," the boy sighed, "if the woman forgot how to use chakra then all she's really good for is teaching the next generation and I'm not sure if she can do that much." He's never seen his mother look so agitated or annoyed; afraid or scared sure, of that she was sure to instill into him but he's never seen her look so… so… unfriendly, it was the only way he could describe the look in her dark eyes, the stony set of her expression.

"Are you the same?" his father asked suddenly as he turned to the two children, "are you the same as them?" tears were still streaming down his face, but the two strange kids appeared unmoved by his cracked voice and endless tears. "Please, please save them!" his father kneeled on the ground, pressing his dirty face to their dirt floor, "please! You have to protect them! Please take them out of the hidden mist, please take them far away, please!"

"Love," his mother whispered broken heartedly, she turned back to the children, glanced back at him for a moment, then bowed before the children herself. "Please save my son Haku, it'll be easier to save one person then two."

"No," his father gasped, "you have to go with them!"

"I can't just leave you to die alone!" his mother barked back sternly, "Death do us part! Remember?!"

"I won't watch you die!" his father wailed, "I Can't! I almost! ...I can't…" his father sobbed, hitting the cold black ground with callused fists, fat tears still rolling down his rough cheeks, "I can't… I can't watch you die…"

"Why not just leave the hidden mist yourself?" the girl asked, tilting her head to the side curiously, "you do know that the other lands don't hate bloodline users right? You'd be safe even in the land of Waterfalls or Rice Patties, heck the land of fire would welcome you with open arms."

"Yeah, they'd properly give you a house and some land to sow," the boy snickered, "they love bloodlines, no matter the form it takes. So long as it doesn't impact your rationality or drive you insane, they'll welcome you like old friends."

"Or clingy relatives," the girl drawled with an unimpressed look at the elder boy

"Well, some might," the boy shrugged

"How do you know this?" his father asked, lifting his tear stained face off the ground to look up at the two children in the door way

"We just came from the land of fire," the girl answered, "They tried to convince us to stay but we didn't find what we're looking for, so we moved on."

"What are you looking for?" his mother asked curiously

"Our parents," the boy answered bluntly, as if it was common knowledge. "I don't suppose you've seen a couple who looks like us?" his mother's eyes dropped to the hooded girl with her body neatly hidden behind her thick cloak. With a heavy sigh, the girl reached up and pulled back her hood, showing them her cotton candy pink hair, porcelain white skin, and doe shaped mint-green eyes.

"No I'm sorry," the woman sighed, "My name is Hana Shikakame—"

"Love," his father whispered with a gentle look, "How about we tell them your surname?" his mother looked surprised and embarrassed, as if she never thought about that.

"I'm sorry," his mother blushed, "My name is Hana Yukimura… I'm from the Yukimura clan, the clan of ice wielders."

"My name is Sakura," the girl answered as she straightened her scarf and lifted her hood, hiding her appearance again

"It's best if you grab what you need and start moving out now," the boy ordered as he looked out the door, "Get to the hidden leaf if you can. They'll protect you like you lived there all your life."

"I understand," his mother sighed, looking a little depressed with the information but understanding that she no longer had a choice. "Haku, love, let's go, we don't have much time before the villagers start up the hill."

"They're already here," the girl replied, "hurry up and grab what you can, we'll distract them."

"But-" his mother tried to protest

"Hay look at that nii-san," the girl chuckled, interrupting her rudely, "she can't protect her own kid but she wants to protect us, how sweet."

"Don't be a vicious little brat," the ordered dully, "now try to capture them without leaving someone out this time."

"Oh come on nii-san, don't ruin my fun,"

…

* * *

…

He listened to her soft voice, humming gently from from the pendent dangling from his fingertips, glowing like star light in his darkened room. She was retelling him what happened that day, how she was tested with a new jutsu, tasked to capture several people and then release them once she was enough away that she knew none of them could chase after her. Her teacher was smirking when she was done, she thinks he was impressed or at least happy with how long she could hold the technique and then the amount of distance between them when she released her captives. Anyways she saved an entire family of ice wielders, people who could control ice like Hinata could control water, it was their bloodline limit, a special ability unique to them. She had even managed to convince them to head towards the hidden leaf and see if Hokage-sama would allow them entrance into the village.

"Sounds like you've had a full day," Sasuke smirked at the pendent, "I'm surprised you haven't fallen over in exhaustion yet."

"_I'm tougher then you think you big jerk_ " Sakura's voice sounded amused to his ears, a kind of laughter that reminded him of the wind. "_Enough about my day, how is everyone over there? Is Naruto actually doing his homework for once?_"

"Yes, the king of morrones is actually doing his homework for once," Sasuke agreed, a chuckling at the memory of Hotaru's face when he stared at the complete sheet of paper that held Naruto's name at the top

"_Am I ever going to hear you two actually address each other by name and not rude words?_" Sakura asked, mildly annoyed but still amused

"Ah, you should've seen Hotaru-sensei's face when he saw the dube's essay," Sasuke replied, ignoring the question easily, "I wish I had that one on film. He was convinced for twenty minutes that the dork erased someone's name and wrote in his own at the top."

"_Naruto's not the brightest lightbulb but he's not an a-uh..._" Sasuke smirked as his teammate quickly tried to figure out what to say to cover up her blunder

"Sakura Haruno, did you just curse?"

"_No_," she answered too quickly

"Did you almost curse?" He asked, rolling onto his side and laying the pendent on the pillow next to his

"..._how're Shikamaru and Shino doing?_" Sakura asked, gracelessly dodging the question, "_do you know if Hinata-Chan finished that jutsu she's been working on? What about Umeko and Riko? Has Riko's burns healed up enough to leave the hospital yet? Shikamaru told me Umeko woke up from her coma but that's it, how is she going?_" Sasuke sighed, realizing that the change if topic was soon her main concern, her worry over the two other girls surfacing through her voice like a wave surging over a rock at the foot of a cliff face.

"Shikamaru is spending a horrendous amount of time reading books, he's gotten obsessed with the sets you sent him by the way, and I honestly don't have a clue how he's managing to memorize them and remain in second place but he is and you should be proud."

"_I'm always proud of my boys_," Sakura replied, Sasuke briefly wondered if that included him

"Well be proud of your girls because they all but out right threatened the principle into letting you keep your third place," Sasuke replied, curling up on his left side, staring at the pendent with a smile.

"_I knew something was up when Naruto sent me a copy of the written examine,_" Sakura chuckled, "_so what'd the girls tell him anyways?_"

"That you weren't in a coma but were still too weak to leave the hospital," Sasuke answered, tugging his blankets up to his waste. "Naruto has to receive and send the examine papers to you in front of the principal through the scroll you have the twin too, _that way he knows you have them and the blonde isn't cheating._"

"Ah, now the mini essays at the end makes sense," Sakura chuckled, curling in on her right side, smiling at the pendent laying on the pillow beside her own pillow. They were residing in a hotel and they only had a two bed room, they neglected to mention that both beds happened to be queen size. She had gotten into the habit of talking to Sasuke every night before bed, typically the conversations were short and too the point but today was special because something different happened in the snow plequded land far to the east.

"_Sakura, when are you going to come home?_" Sasuke asked, the crimson moon of his clan crest glowing like a small ember

"When my mission is finished," Sakura answered with a soft sigh, this was how they ended their conversations. He would be speaking and everything would seem fine and almost normal, then it would be her turn to speak and for a moment she could see herself sitting beside her teammate-then when it was his turn to speak he would ask that question and she would answer it the same way every time.

"Will that be soon?" Sasuke asked, reaching out to cradle the pendent with one hand, unaware that Sakura was doing the same with her left hand

"I don't know," Sakura answered honestly, as she snuggled into fur lined blankets, "how's your training going with Hatake-san?"

"They're going," Sasuke answered with a sleepy yawn, "he's late most of the time so when he shows up, me and the dube are too tiered to move." Sasuke realized what he said too late, his eyes popped back open and stared at the pendent as if it could open up and bite his hand

"..._You two are spending all of that extra time fighting aren't you?_" She sounded so disappointed that for a moment Sasuke was reminded of his mother. "_Will it be a sign of Armageddon if you two can work together without insults, name calling, and fist fights breaking out between you two?_"

"Properly," Sasuke answered truthfully, electing a giggle from the pinkette

"Ah, hold on," Sakura gasped and sat up straight in her bed, listening closely, "sensei is back, _quick, go to sleep!_" Sasuke smiled as he curled closer to his pendent, imagining that she was doing the same, and that perhaps clutching the pendent was their way of holding hands. Blushing at the thought Sasuke shook his head and let go of his necklace, choosing to wrap his arms around his pillow and hurry his face into its cold navy coveting instead.

"_Sasuke-kun? Are you awake?_"

"I'm here," Sasuke answered just as softly as she whispered, reaching out and grabbing the pendant without pulling his face out if his pillow

"_Hay, is it just me or dose the pendent get warm when one of us grabs it?_" Sakura asked

"No, that's how it was designed," Sasuke whispered to her, "go to sleep Sakura, we can talk more in the morning, okay?"

"_Okay_," she answered sleepily

Neither teammate realized that they were a perfect reflection of the other and that if some were to take a picture of either one of them from directly over head and then lined up the pictures, it would appear that the two were facing each other in their beds, hands clasped together while they slept

…

* * *

…

"Do we have any information on her location?" Hiruzen asked as he entered his office, his strongest tracking unit stood statue still, heads bowed. "Not even a hint?" Hiruzen asked softly, knowing the silent answer well enough, having seen it on many of his shinobi over the years.

"We've tried everything we could think of sir," the captain sighed, "We don't have the faintest clue where that woman might've taken Ami-san and investigating Ren's movements is no easy task. Her notes yield no clues as to the locations of the other jashin-ests, the only thing we having going for us is her summonings dropping off little riddles about the next location of the blood bath she's left behind—"

"Riddles?" Hiruzen asked, stopping behind his desk as a dark thought occurred to him, "do you have the riddles on you?"

"Yes sir, we've also found a mission scroll from Kametama-san, explaining why he left with the woman and the majority of what their plans are," the captain answered courtly, "I think they're planning on taking out the majority of the cult themselves. I've also tried looking into Ren-san's identity and I haven't been able to come up with anyone in the Nanami clan being named 'Ren' for the past fifty years."

"Ren-san is hardly a fifty-year old woman," Hiruzen drawled before he got what his agent meant and gave a heavy sigh, pinching at his brow. "We know from her letter that she's the jashinest follower we caught roughly three years ago. What we don't know is her real identity, skill level or even if she came from a hidden village," Hiruzen raised his eyes and stared at the captain seriously, "we do have the name of her sister though, can you do any research on Ruia?"

"Yes sir," the man agreed, only to realize the implications and cursed wildly, impressing Hiruzen with the elaborate string of unusual curses. After a moment the captain was calm enough not to curse again, he turned to Hiruzen and bowed deeply.

"We'll start looking through the files concerning _that_ woman," the agent said as calmly as he could, now knowing that Ren was as far from civilian as they first believed her to be.

"Go to Ibiki for the files," Hiruzen instructed with a sigh, "he was, or is, still in charge of the case."

"Yes sir," the team was gone almost in the same breath. Hiruzen sat down in his chair with a heavy sigh, in his desk sat the psychology papers for Riko and Ameko. Their mental stability has increased, however, it was recommended that they step down from the shinobi life for a few years, until they're old enough to come to terms with the incident. The other children of their year seemed to have taken being a shinobi more seriously than they properly should, they understand that now they're at war they can graduate and be 'shipped' to the 'front lines' (they didn't even know where those were yet!). That might be why they are concentrating in a specific field of expertise while at the same time rounding off in the other areas of Shinobi arts. So far, almost everyone in the advanced course excels in some form of Martial arts, most of the children with above average chakra control have taken up lessons in healing. While others have decided to go into communications, not an easy field but the children are determined to master a field of heavily needed expertise. In fact, the children's skills were so centered and broadcasted that it was as if the children themselves all sat down and decided who should focus more where and decided which people would master which fields.

"Are they planning something?" Hiruzen thought aloud, wondering if the children's sudden focus on a single (extremely difficult) field had something to do with Sakura's mission she departed on. The official story was that she slipped back into a coma. It was a bold face lie that most Jonin saw through, but the children were still children, they shouldn't have seen though his lie so easily. Hiruzen spun in his seat and stared down at his village, staring at it as if he was no longer sure of what he should do anymore. Naruto was excelling at a rapid rate under Jiraiya's tutelage, Sasuke was absorbing Kakashi's knowledge like a sponge, Shikamaru was seen reading more books in a day then he properly could retain, Ino was suddenly doing obsessive training with her father, Hinata was studying water ninjutsu's and appeared to be developing her own while she was it, Shino… Hiruzen was fairly sure the young heir was doing his best to know every single secret technique of his clan but the boy was so subdued lately that he honestly didn't know if he was doing anything different at all. Not to mention the older students, they were beginning to bring on a headache the likes of which Hiruzen had never had, not even when Naruto brought about his worst migraines. They were secretive now, speaking in soft tones, trading secret messages that made no sense (his anbu were able to intercept two of them before getting found out, the messages after that were scribble lines and weird riddles that didn't make sense, especially with the spelling errors and horrid grammer), writing in riddles that were confusing, and they appeared to be taking their cues from the number one in their year. As far as Hiruzen could tell, Shikamaru Nara was leading the fifth years, Choko Nara was leading the sixth years, Hama Nohara was leading the seventh years and Hiruzen believed that either Nia Yukimaru or Mai Inuzuka were leading the eighth years.

If the children in the advanced class chose to fight, for whatever reason, then those in the number one positions would be the leaders by default. Though to find out what they were fighting for would be another problem entirely, if they were planning to go after Ami, then they knew more than they should, which meant either a leak somewhere or their own snooping. If that was the case, then he had to keep an eye on Shikamaru (he may not be number one but that was because he was too lazy to take the title back), Choko, Hama, and Nia, the top most dangerous children of the Advanced Class.

Heaven knows they're the most dangerous people in his entire village

…

* * *

…

The next time Sasuke met up with Naruto in their class year's designated meet up, the training grounds that started the entire war, he found the blonde boy unrolling the scroll that was paired with Sakura's. He arrived just in time to watch ten storage seals fade onto the paper, a single number appearing on the bottom of every seal, as if that was their only clue. Shrugging carelessly, Sasuke sat himself down in front of the seal with the number one stationed beneath it, Shikamaru sat beside him to the left and soon enough everyone was taking their rightful places, only the numbers 3, 6, 8 and 10 were unmanned. Their ranking three and six weren't in the village, number eight and ten were still in the hospital but at least their number seven would be able to unseal their respected items and hand them over to the girls when she went to the hospital for her shift later that day. Sasuke didn't realize just how empty their class year seemed with just those four girls missing, as if none of them could function completely without their presence, annoying and irritating as some of them were, they were a part of their year. Sharing one final look with everyone, they hall hovered their hands over their respective seals and released what was sealed inside.

Shikamaru got a whole new stack of books that he quickly took and hid before anyone could see their titles, making Sasuke wonder if Sakura sent him more books about the moon or more puzzles and quizzes. Hinata got a stack of scrolls edged in light blue, properly some more water element scrolls for her to learn from, Sakura seemed all too happy to find and send those to her as often as she could. Shino got a stack of books about bugs, one on plants that ate bugs, and what appeared to be a several clear boxes containing bugs. For all of the staring he was giving them, and the fine trembling in his hands when he reached out to the nearest box, everyone knew he was more overjoyed with his presents then he appeared. Ino received three books on flowers, their medical purposes and one that appeared to be on herbs and spices, she quickly hid the last book away in her log sleeve before Sasuke got a look at its tittle. Naruto apparently received a large scroll that Sakura somehow managed to seal into the transportation scroll (which was easily a quarter of the size of the scroll he was now staring at with starry eyes), figures that only Sakura would figure out how to seal something into something even smaller then itself. Sasuke was mildly curious about what his teammate received but knew it was most likely some kind of secret thing shared between Sakura and Naruto, as most things given between them were. Sasuke sighed with a soft smile and turned to look down at what he had been given. A stack of five books, three fire natured scrolls, three containers of something he didn't recognize, and a small wooden box with a cute little flower carved on its surface.

"Alright, lets head back to class before someone notices us missing," Shikamaru ordered, rising to his feet, his gifts neatly sealed into one of his traveling scrolls. The others mumbled but quickly sealed their presents away as well and started to follow him back to the academy. At the gates of the academy they found the posting for their last semester Advanced Class graduates, already knowing they still remained in their classes, the group still strolled over just to see if their placements had changed. The crowd around the build board all scattered out of their way, eyes wide and faces pale, as if they expected hell to be unleashed just for staring and whispering.

"What the hell is that?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes at the board, true to their assumptions, none of their placements hadn't been moved, their scores changed (typical) but their ranks remained the same. They were able to convince the principal to let Sakura retain her third place marking but to replace her name with her nick name so that she technically didn't lose her placement. However what Naruto was questioning was the added name of someone they didn't recognize, a name of someone who didn't belong in their ranks.

_Accepted Advanced Class Participants Semester two_

_Year 5:_

_Sasuke Uchiha_

_Shikamaru Nara_

_Sprite_

_Shino Aburame_

_Hinata Hyūga_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Riko Yamauchi_

_Umeko Yamanaka_

_Sai_

"Hello," they all turned at the soft voice staring blankly at the boy standing not far from them, a fake smile on his too pale face, "My name is Sai, nice to meet you."

Naruto was the first to respond

"Don't take Sakura's place and we won't have a problem,"

…

* * *

…

She awoke to sadistic laughter and terrified screams, again, and the feel of warm sticky liquid splashing her. She wanted to belief that it was all a nightmare, that she was safe in her village and that her Aunt was there rocking her back and forth, trying to sooth the nightmares away like she usually dose. But once again her eyes opened to the strange stone room with the circle and triangle carved into the floor, three people were standing near the entrance of the room, bathed in their own blood. The woman was laughing manically in the center of the room, her body covered in cuts and blood, as if she didn't care that she was bleeding all over the floor. On the floor to her right she could see countless corpses lined against the wall, as if they were dragged there just to get them out of the way as the next group of 'sacrifices' were marched in. It seemed that after her last escape attempt, this is all they were willing to give her. They forced her to watch the woman with her aunts face slaughter dozens of people in a single day, she listened to the people scream and beg, pleading to spare their lives, only for the woman to slash at her throat and kill them easily. She seemed to take great delight in watching the people choke on their own blood or to whither in agony as she pulled their entrails out. The woman was the worst kind of monster there was but she feared that she was slowly becoming an even worse monster, a monster who no longer cared for those who were killed in front of her, growing colder and colder with each splash of blood that soaked her.

She's lost track of time, the deaths are endless, the days and nights are blurred together to create an endless stretch of day without sleep or rest. Screams were starting to sound in her dreams, blood coating her in her dreams, agony tearing her apart every time she blinked. She found no rest in sleep and sleep found no hold in her tortured mindscape bathed in anguish and misery. She no longer knew if her eyes were open or if the glowing symbol of the lunatic below her was forever etched upon her eyelids, like a scar from a burn. Her limbs were as cold as the stone holding her up, numb fingers were purple because of the tight rope bound around her. The same rope was wrapped tightly around her waist and legs, keeping her strung up against the cold black stone of the cave bathed and painted in pure blood.

Would anyone find her before she lost her mind?

Is anyone even looking for her?

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 10**


	28. Chapter 28

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 28: third and fourth month

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

Instead of traveling together to the hidden leaf, the Yukimra family separated at the house. The husband left to the hidden leaf to start the greening process, finding a job and getting a home for the three of them. The wife, Hana, left to start gathering other members of her family, using her bloodline to locate and communicate with them. Haku, the boy, decided to travel with Sakura and her 'older brother', according to him he was keeping his mother worry free by being with them. Haku and the brother argued for a few hours about him traveling with them, when Sakura got involved it seemed to get worse until the 'siblings' discovered that Haku needed to train and had no clue how to begin practicing with his bloodline. Relenting, the two siblings allowed the black haired boy to travel with them, on the condition that he keeps up, doesn't get in trouble and keeps them safe from the majority of the blizzards that seemed to be attracted to them. While traveling they came across a network of caves they ended up getting lost in, they found a young white haired boy with jade green eyes locked in a cell in one of the rooms. Haku froze the locks and Sakura slammed a foot into the frozen, fragile net of wood and metal, shattering it into pieces. The boy informed them that the only way out of the tunnel network was straight up, they did so with the Sakura's older brother's ability to draw roots down through the rock and pull them directly up to the top of the underground network. However they discovered that the surface was the middle of a clan compound and at the sight of the white haired little boy beside them, the clan raged furiously and attacked them. Sakura and Haku responded at the same time, lifting up earthen and iced shields, letting the older boy create a divot in the earth and rolling their protective sphere away from the compound with enough speed to make the kids dizzy and lose the clan of bone wielding psychopaths. Sakura informed them that they should split up because of the rather obvious trail they left behind, they could make several weaving paths with clones (something her and her brother had to produce because the other two were clueless with the presses) and all meet up again at the top of a village two days south from their current position.

Two days later, Sakura and her 'older brother' were standing at the edge of a long road, watching the village far below them sleep peacefully, like an innocent city bathed in moonlight. To their far left stood several tall men of the hidden mist, various swords of all types and sizes sat soundly on each of their wilder's backs. To their far right stood a tall woman with long inky black hair and icy blue eyes, dressed in a pretty blue kimono. Behind her stood several other people, each looking like nervous children, as if they were orphans seeing people willing to adopt them for the first time. Behind the three children stood an entire clan if insane killers watching for an opportunity to get into the village far below them. The clan in question gave a loud, echoing cry as their bodies erupted and shattered apart as their bloodlines bloomed awake. Her eyes closed and her hand tightened on the tall boy's, she stepped a little closer to him, feeling the earth beneath her feet rumble as the clan charged for them.

"What do you think we should do?" The boy asked softly, "who do we protect?" It was as if time slowed down, she turned to look at the men who have sworn their allegiance to the village far below them. One looked as if he was no older then herself, with short navy hair and half hiding behind a tall man with a sword as long as he was tall. The boy gasped, his eyes widening as he stared at her, the man didn't look to happy himself as if he just noticed how young she was. She pulled herself a little closer to her guard and looked to the other side, the woman with inky hair had one clenched hand and was glaring furiously at her guard, as if he was to be blamed for the coming bloodshed. In all honesty she hadn't accounted for both parties arriving at the same time, she called for the blue eyed clan to arrive at sunset and called to the swordsmen to arrive at midnight, but the clan of bone wielders was unexpected. She had met them once before by accident and planned to never cross paths with them ever again, but it would seem that the clan had plans to attack the village the same night she sought to talk to the clan and swordsmen. She looked once more to the navy haired boy, staring into his worried brown eyes, watching how he tugged and whispered hurriedly to his fellow swordsmen, as protesting to a plan they had made.

"I..." She looked frightfully down at the peaceful village below, she didn't know what to do. Her mission was to protect and gather the scattered bloodlines of the mist lands but she didn't believe in turning her back on innocents when she could easily protect them. However, protecting the hidden mist village wasn't a part of her mission, if anything it could be perceived as treason; she wouldn't be the only one her elders would want to execute, they would want to kill her guard as well.

"What are you standing there for?!" One of the mist nin shouted as he sped forward and skidded to a stop several feet behind her and her guard, his sword ready before him, "take the brat and run!" The girl gasped, her eyes widening as she stared at the back of the man ordering her to safety, with him so close she could now identify him as Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the Bloody mist—how strange for a demon to seek the protection of a strange little girl he didn't even know. "Boy, take them to the village and evacuate!" The boy with short azure hair nodded at his superior and hurried towards them, nearly stumbling in his hurry towards them. The other swordsmen each made their own decisions and readied themselves before the two children as well, weapons ready and smiles wide.

"P-Please f-follow m-me-e," the boy stuttered as he carefully reached out to her, as if he expects her to slap his hand and curse at him.

"Nii-san," she says softly, turning to look up at her guard with a fond smile, "I've made my choice." The blue haired boy straightened, as if he didn't know if her choice would benefit him or endanger his home; still he watched them closely, one hand hovering over his kunai pouch, ready to attack or defend depending on their next movements.

"Good," he smirked and ruffled her head through the hood of her cloak, "I was beginning to worry." She kneeled and wove her hands through several hand signs. He turned and threw off his cloak, letting it fall to the ground; revealing his short wild midnight red hair, dancing hazel cat eyes and a grin that looked as predatory as a grinning panther ready to eat. He was dressed in a simple dark kimono top with black traveling pants, a weapons pouch was on his right leg and warm thick knitted gloves covered his large hands; he looked like a traveling sails merchant and appeared to be just as threatening.

"Alright, let the fire glow bright in the mist!" The mist Jonin all looked in annoyance at the teen boy and the kneeling little girl, only to flinch back at the sight of the symbol of the hidden leaf stationed firmly on the black cloth wrapped around the young man's forehead, their eyes wide as realization dawned on them. their allies called them, their allies would help them, their allies were prepared to protect their village... but, why were they here?

"Wood Style: Eternal Spring Shield!" the girl's hands buried themselves into the earth and not a moment later did giant cherry blossom trees burst into being, lining the cliff face over the great village protectively. The insane clan slowed to a hesitant stumbling crawl, their eyes wide as they stared at the beautiful glowing blossom trees that now stood in their way. For a moment it was as if their insanity had abated, their deranged grins giving way to childish awe, it was as if they forgot their purpose and were content to just stare at the moonlit cheery blossoms for the rest of time. the small cloaked child at the very center of the moonlight glowing cheery trees looked up at the beautiful trees and slumped backwards towards the elder teen, who caught her easily. He crouched and checked her vitals before rising to his feet and regarding the wide eyed gaping youngest swordsman in the entire group of swordsmen still standing to their left, unsure of to attack the clan or the cloaked children.

"Hay kid, can I trust you with her?" The older boy asked suddenly, the blue haired boy stuttered and blushed as he tried to figure out what he should do, only to have the smaller cloaked child tossed into his arms without warning. "Good," the teen smirked, his skin darkening, cracking and splitting, his hair grew long and rugged, turning almost green in color, it was as if he was becoming a tree and soon enough the blue haired boy realized that was exactly what the red haired teen was doing; he was becoming a giant tree-man. "I don't know if I can come back from this but I'm trusting you with my little sister, protect her well." The boy was about to respond but the girl coughed and shuttered in his arms, drawing his undivided attention as he began to panic over the small trail of blood slipping past the edge of her lips. The red haired boy disappeared as he began the fight the bone wielding insane clan, the mist Jonin soon laughing and charging as they aided in his attack; the jonin allowed the younger boy to trap and immobilize the children of the clan while they dealed with the elder clansmen. The red haired woman that once stood to the cloaked children's right observed the fighting for a moment before she gestured for those who followed her to join in as well. She, meanwhile, moved towards the collapsed girl dressed in a black cloak and the panicking blue haired boy who really didn't know what to do.

"Relax boy, calm down," the woman sighed as she stepped forward and kneeled beside the cloaked girl wheezing in his arms. She gently reached out and pulled back the girl's hood, revealing her bright strawberry pink hair and ghostly pale completion and gently parted the girl's lips to examine the blood still welling inside her mouth. "She just feinted from exhaustion, the blood is from biting her lip to hard," the woman told him as she stood back up and regarded the fighting mass of the boy's elders, giant tree man, her clansmen and the demonic looking clan of bone users. "I doubt she's ever used such a large bust of chakra at one time before," Seeing the boy look down worriedly at the sickly little girl she sighed and slumped her shoulders a little, "don't worry, she'll wake up soon." _Although if it'll be soon enough is another matter entirely, I fear she may not awaken in time…_

"R-really?" The boy stuttered, looking relived, glad the girl would be okay. The woman looked down at him, watching him closely as he carefully shifted the girl and gently placed her against the nearest cheery blossom tree. He even went so far as to brush her bangs aside, which revealed a tiny nearly transparent leaf stationed on her forehead, looking innocent in the moonlight streaming down from above. She narrowed her eyes at the tiny transparent leaf, wondering what kind of tree it came from; the leaf itself was an ovate shape with a perfectly smooth edge and delicately pointed triangular tip. Narrowing her eyes at the young girl's forehead, the woman looked closer at the strange little baby leaf and realized with dawning horror the rarity of the strange little leaf, she's seen it several times during the third Great War and knew from experience that those with the misfortune to be in contact with it would die from exposure. The simple looking baby leaf came from a very rare tree in fire country in the southern lands closest to wind country, a breed of tree known for its year round pink blossom and smooth jade green leaves; this tree was called the fire blossom—conveniently named for its lethal effects on the human body.

"I wonder what this is," the boy whispered as he moved to touch it

"No don't!" the woman snapped as realization hit her but she was too late, the boy brushed his fingers against the leaf and the result wasn't quite what the woman had expected. She thought the boy would scream as his fingers suddenly burst out into boils that quickly traveled up his arm and then consumed his body or maybe there would be a surge of power from the little innocent leaf that would send the boy flying into the fray and possibly to his death; but none of that happened. Instead the little leaf glowed in the moonlight, as if it were reflecting it, and then it settled back against the girl's forehead, making her take in a deep breath as if she had died and then returned to life. Slowly the girl opened her eyes, and stared blurrily at the blue haired boy before her; the woman crouched beside the girl and stared intently at the leaf on her forehead. The girl licked her lips sleepily and turned to look at the woman, only to flinch back as she realized just how close the woman was, her green eyes widening in surprise.

"Who are you?" the woman asked sharply, "keep in mind that if you lie I'll boil you alive here and now."

"S-Sakura!" the girl stuttered out, her face paling in terror and her voice cracking in fear, "I-I c-called you!"

"You're the one who sent the message to us?" the woman asked, eyes narrowing further, "What do you want?"

"Peace is greatly appreciated," the girl replied fearfully, "I mean you no harm!" The woman stared at her for a moment, trying to detect a lie, trying to figure out just what a little girl would what with her but in the end, she could only make out pure honesty in the girl's voice and her unabashed show of complete terror only told her that the girl knew to be afraid of her. Still she couldn't understand, if the girl knew who she was, what she was capable of, why would she seek a summons? And here on this hill top no less?

"Boy," the woman turned her sharp jade eyes onto the boy, who flinched back himself, fear gripping him, "Who are you?"

"Ch-Chōjiro!" the boy stuttered, "I'm Chōjiro of the seven swords men of the hidden mist!"

"You're awfully young to be one of the seven swords men," the woman replied calmly. She watched in amusement as he bowed his head in shame and stared miserably at his feet, mumbling something about not being good enough and it was a mistake and how he should've known better then to follow his seniors. "My name is Terumi Nana," the woman said suddenly as she rose to her feet, "I am clan head of the Terumi clan."

"T-Terumi clan?" Chōjiro gasped wide eyed, "the famed lava users?!"

"Heh, and to think my mother was of the Mizushima clan," Nana smirked back at him, pride lacing her voice; from the quick glance she gave the girl she knew the little pinkette had quickly noticed her lie and was frowning at her for it. if the girl knew who she was then the girl should be able to figure out why she had to lie about her name and association to the clan she led fearlessly.

"But that's the Acid breath clan!" Chōjiro paled, "they eat acids for a living!"

"That is an exaggeration," Nana drawled disappointed in the boy, "They eat highly toxic plants, there's a difference."

_I fail to __see__ the difference,_ Chōjiro thought with a sigh, his shoulders slumping

"It is because of your parents that I sought your council," Sakura spoke as she pushed herself a little higher against the tree, wincing as sharp pain erupted from her hip up to her shoulder, feeling as if someone had just tried to cut her in half. Her sharp hiss, drew both Nana's and Chōjiro's attention, Sakura took several steady breaths with her eyes squeezed shut tightly, as if she could block out the pain by closing her eyes. Suddenly there was a roar in the rampaging clan of insanity; Chōjiro and Nana were both forced to intercept several wild looking bone wielders that headed straight for the weak girl. Their eyes widened as they saw a crazed man fly past their two groups, avoiding each strike from of the Terumi clansmen and the seven swords men, it appeared as if none of them could stop the bone encased man as he charged straight for the little girl who could only stare at him in complete terror.

"DIE WITCH!" the man roared, a bone sword held high and at the ready. With a shrill scream Sakura threw her arms up to protect herself, imminently the tree she was leaning against reached down and wrapped its branches around the man's throat before sending sharp new growths threw his temple, raining blood down on the ground directly below. The demonic clan feel short, their will to fight ending with the death of their commander, it didn't take long for the defenders to realize that the man who charged Sakura was actually the clan head and the leader of the insane blood craving clan. Without their leader the clan became lost, backing away from the swordsmen as if they didn't know why they were fighting, they almost appeared like lost kittens searching for something familiar.

"Sakura!" the tree-man creature shouted as he ran straight for the passed out girl, his body slowly returning to normal as he drew closer and closer to her. "Sakura!" the boy shouted just as a swipe from a member of the strange clan connected with his unprotected side, the man was quickly beheaded by one of the swordsmen. The young teen collapsed to the ground, he tried to stand again but the wound was deep and wide, spanning the side of his front ribs all the way to the back and was a good three inches wide. One of the swordsmen approached him and helped him stand up, careful of the boy's wound as they both hobbled their way towards the pinkette laying against the center cherry blossom tree. The strange bone wielders attacking Nana and Chōjiro backed down, not sure what to do now that their leader was dead, they each looked at each other as they retreated, as if expecting one of them to take the lead. Slowly, starting in the far back, the members turned to the high hill and one by one they all kneeled as two young boys calmly walked down the hill. One boy had smooth elegant black hair and feminine dark eyes, the other boy walking in front of him had short white hair and jade green eyes. The white haired boy looked briefly at the kneeling black haired clansmen but didn't pay them any mind as he walked, not bothered by the bodies and blood that stained the grounds like a painting of an ancient battle ground. Reaching the bottom of the hill, the dark haired boy smiled at the older brother to the little girl sleeping soundly against the wall of cheery blossom trees and turned his sight towards the trees, hoping to see the familiar girl he's been traveling with.

"Sakura-chan?" Haku called out softly, pausing briefly before dashing forward with a panicked shout, "Sakura!" the white haired boy hurried after him. Haku slid to a stop beside Sakura, pressing a single green glowing palm to her chest, slumping and sighing in relief at the warm steady beat of her heart. He looked up at the white haired boy who stopped at Sakura's feet, panting heavily as he stared at him with slightly wide eyes, fearing the worst.

"She's okay," Haku murmured with a smile, relaxing as he pulled his hands back, "She's just asleep." The white haired boy sighed in relief and slumped. He looked back up and examined the people surrounding him, seemingly unsurprised by the sight of a bandaged sword sitting evenly with his nose and the navy haired boy standing on the other end of it. He blinked slowly and then turned to look at his clansmen, each of them was looking to him, as if they expected orders to be given, he dismissed their presence easily. He looked to the swordsmen who regarded him as carefully as they would regard a wounded lion and then he caught the sight of Sakura's older brother, the boy was wounded on his side but seemed conscious enough to nod courtly at him. He nodded back and returned his attention to the girl who saved his life, hearing a dripping noise he looked up and found his clan head's body dangling lifelessly overhead; blood was making little crimson trails down his body to drip off his finger tips and toes. The boy looked back down at the knocked out girl, looked back up at the man, and looked back down at the girl again, this time though, he took another step forward and kneeled before her, his bent knee landing in the dirt beside the growing puddle of blood, one fist over his heart and his head bowed.

"You've saved me yet again," the boy said to her, "I owe you my life."

"What's your name boy?" the white haired boy lifted his head to look up at Nana, he seemed unsurprised by her glare, he seemed even less surprised to see the long sword in her hand stationed close to his throat.

"Kimimaro," the boy answered blandly, sitting back on his hunches as he stared dully up at the dark haired woman, "I am Kimimaru Kaguya, heir of the Kaguya clan."

"I am Haku Yukimura," Haku spoke up, "we got separated after saving Kimimaru-san from the clan and it was agreed we'd all meet up here." Haku smiled up at the woman as he tugged Sakura against his side, pulling one arm over his shoulder. "Thank you for protecting her," Haku added as an after thought, bobbing his head at the two shinobi to his left, Kimimaru straightened and hurried to Sakura's other side, pulling her arm over his shoulder and awaited instructions from Haku.

"Hold up brats," they both turned to see a bandaged face of an overly muscled man approach them with an irritated look in his dark eyes, "She's suffering from Chakra exhaustion and your friend over there is going to bleed to death if he doesn't see a medic soon." Kimimaru looked at Haku curiously

"What's Catra exhaustion?"

…

* * *

…

It's been three weeks since the two leaf Ninja and their two little bloodline carrying freibds appeared, the four appearing before his six most trusted men and the most elusive clan of the east. The Terumi clan leader and three of her strongest members have yet to move on, content to wait for the young leaf to awaken, claiming they still needed to talk. He was unable to throw them out of his village, or just killing them, because the girl was the Hokage's apprentice which gave her political immunity to every village. With _her_ request to meet them, it made the Terumi clan leader and her little guards immune to his rule as well, because they were holding a political meeting. If he wanted in on this meeting then he would have to be there when the girl woke up, then he could have a few words with her himself. So he visited her room every morning and every evening, ignoring the three boys who seemed content to remain in her hospital room, before his councilors found his location and started pestering him with paper work. The Kaguya clan moved into his village as well, pouting inside their given cells like sulking children; with their leader dead and their heir lacking the gene for destruction, they were as lost as someone waking up on a battle field with amnesia. If only he knew to take out the clan head sooner, maybe they could've avoided the sabotage tactics and the attempted attack on his village.

"Mizukage-sama," one of the doctors greeted as he turned a corner, pulling him out if his thought abruptly, "the young lady has awoken, Haku is in the cafeteria and the Terumi clan head is on her way here now."

"You informed her before me?" He asked, looking up at the man with a glare

"My apologies Mizukage-sama," the man looked down at him regretfully, "I'm afraid that restraining the girl's brother and white haired friend was next to impossible."

"So the girl is alone?" He asked stopping in his tracks, the man beside him nodded with a smirk. The young Kage was almost gone in a breath of air, speeding through the pale halls at blinding speeds. He rounded three corners and by passed two nurse stations before he finally reached the room with two Anbu guards. Ignoring them, he passed through the door and snapped it shut behind him, firmly telling his men what he wanted without a word. Sitting alone on the far side of the room, her face turned toward the bright gleaming white moon shinning blindingly down on his village, was the girl he had been trying to see for the past two weeks. Slowly the girl's face turned towards him and he froze as he realized that the face starring back at him was not the face he had been watching sleep in the bed. The face staring back at him right now was the face of a woman, not just any woman either; it was the face of a woman who's seen a lot of death in her time.

"Who are you?" He asked stiffly, wondering why this woman's face was replacing the child's.

"What a rude child," the girl with a woman's face said calmly, her voice tilting lowly to sound more like that of a matured woman's, "that is no way to address your mother." As much as he wanted to retaliate, beyond just 'rude', he opted for staring at her like she was an idiot, it didn't appear to have any effect. "Come here boy, I don't have much time left," his voice chose that moment to not work, even as his feet were lifted off the floor and he started moving towards the girl-woman.

…

To say he was alarmed would be an understatement. He reached the edge of the hospital grounds with the four Terumi clan members just as the room they were heading towards light up with a brilliant white light. They double timed their racing to the room and arrived inside at the same time the light faded and the door slammed open by the two Anbu agents, Haku close behind them with a player of food in his hands. On the floor beside the bed was the Mizukage, Sakura herself was slumped half out of bed, leaning heavily against the windowsill. Haku hurried into the room and set the tray down on lamp desk, with Kimimaru's help, Haku pushed and gently situated Sakura back into her bed, even rearranging her IVs while he was at it.

"What just happened?" He asked lowly as the young Kage lifted himself off the floor with a cough and wheeze. The seemingly young man looked around himself in confusion, as if he didn't understand why he was in the hospital.

"Mizukage-sama," One of the Anbu called, whisper soft, "did they hurt you?" The young man looked up and blinked slowly before turning to look up at the two in the windowsill, then to the two young boys beside the pink haired girl. The teen stepped into the room and carefully placed a palm against Sakura's forehead, as if checking his temperature.

"I wasn't gone long, I swear," Haku said, sounding panicked and afraid

"Your fine Haku," the teen reassured him, "why don't you and Kimimaru go to the cafeteria and get some dinner, I know you haven't eaten in a while so don't protest." Kimimaru seemed to understand and silently guided the younger boy out of the room, then and only then, did the russet haired teen turn piercing hazel eyes onto the Kage.

"What just happened?" Yagura asked slowly staring back at the bug eyed teen

"I thought you would answer that Mizukage-sama," the Terumi clan head drawled, crouching lowly on the windowsill, as if she were ready to jump in and grab the girl before jumping back out again. Like the woman thought he was a threat to the young girl's life, as if he would attack her despite her unconscious state.

"The last clear thing I remember is fighting a man in the forest..." Yagura answered slowly, as if he thought it was just a dream but felt too tired to believe it to be anything less than reality. "How long have I been under that man's control?"

"Mizukage-sama," the agent at the door said softly, stepping into the room, "what is the last date you remember?"

"The day I fought the masked man was June first, year ***3," Yagura answered, his face scrunching up slightly in thought, "everything after that is kinda blurry..."

"Is it possible for someone to be controlled for ten years?" The young red haired boy asked, his face twisting up in confusion, "wait, how'd you get free?"

"I heard a woman's voice calling out to me," Yagura answered, "it was because of her voice that I was able to look away from the Sharingan eye in my mental reality. The next thing I know I was here, asking you what happened because my head was pounding too hard to think clearly."

"Are you sure it was the Sharingan?" The young man asked, straightening in his crouch slightly

"I've fought plenty of Uchihas during the war to know the difference between the Sharingan and the Maen." Yagura replied in mild annoyance

"What's the Maen?" The boy asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion

"Its a dōjutsu that grants the wielder many abilities that include penetrating vision, disruption of other dōjutsu, and unique healing through life-force energy manipulation, it can also miss-place or create chakra signatures, locate and track by sensing chakra, picking up chakra signatures from long distances, and noticing changes in an individual's chakra," Yagura answered honestly, rubbing at his pounding forehead, "its insanely rare though, most users die from chakra exhaustion before they reach ten years, because they can't control the eye technique and since it can only be passed down from parent to child its rarity increases with every child born with it as a 'sleeper gene'." The boy hummed thought fully and sat back on his hunches, staring passively at Yagura, as if he was trying to decide something. After a moment he nodded and stepped into the room calmly, folding his hands together in front of himself as a greeting to Yagura, the teen then began speaking.

"Hello Mizukage-sama," the boy greeted, "I am Mikio, Jonin of the hidden leaf. The two boys you met earlier are two children we've saved while traveling to you're village. The first is the dark haired one, his name is Haku Yukimura and has agreed to travel with Sakura-hime and I around the five nations before settling in our home village, Konohagakure. The second is Kimimaru Kaguya, we stumbled upon him two days before we arrived here, I don't know what his plans are. My mission is to escort lord Hokage's apprentice and village heir to our allies and protect her along the journey. There is much Sakura-hime has to discuss with you." Yagura was quiet as he absorbed the information, trying hard not to let his brain explode at the rapid pace if the intro-debrief-thing the young man speed through like master speed talker.

"I don't suppose you can give me the blunt run down of the discussion, can you?" Yagura asked as he pulled himself onto his feet, deciding to only consecrate on the last and most important information Mikio spoke of.

"I am afraid I was not cleared for the details of the discussion," Mikio answered calmly, "I was ordered to protect her while on her journey."

"I see," Yagura frowned at him but decided he could ask his questions for later, "fine, contact me when she wakes."

"Of course," Mikio smiled, as if he expected the order and still had no intentions of following it. He turned and smoothly adjusted Sakura in her bed so she wouldn't fall out again, speaking to the Terumi clan head. "Lady Nana, please forgive me for waking you and wasting your time, I should've waited until morning."

"It's no problem," Nana replied with a sweet smile, "I planned to visit with her anyways."

…

* * *

…

_When did she last see light?_

All she sees now is the color red, bright and blinding like blood

_When did she last feel the earth beneath her feet?_

All she can feel is the warm, sticky liquid that always sprays upon her

_When did she last smell clean air?_

All she can smell is the scent of copper, rust, salt, and liquid metal; the smell of blood has stained her nostrils, even contaminating her memories

_When did she last taste something sweet?_

Thick, warm, liquid is forced down her throat, coating her mouth and staining her taste buds to the point that she's forgotten the taste of food

_When did she last hear silence?_

Her ears ring, constantly, with the screams of agony from those receiving prolonged torture that is the wait of death

She's forgotten the feel of sun on her skin, the gentile caress from the wind, the grass beneath her back and cool water touching her toes; she's forgotten it all. She's forgotten the sound of true laughter, of children playing, of girls fantasying, of woman gossiping, of men joking. She's forgotten the sight of colors, of greens and blues, yellows and purples, of whites and oranges. She knows red is the color of blood, black is the color of the dankness, pink is the color of blood on her dress… pink that was the color of... of flowers... of spring... it was the color of.. of…

_Sakura..._ Before her was still the woman bathing herself in other people's blood, laughing loudly at their screams and agony.

…

_"Will you calm down? We can't let her belief that she can win,"_

_"But she will win,"_

_"Not if we work together," she looked up, starring terrified into those calm emeralds, "together we're unstoppable. Now, are you ready?"_

…

_She stared at the pinkette __tying__ off the end of her bandage, she rose and regarded her carefully, looking for more wounds to tend to_

"_Go away forehead-girl," she ordered crossing her arms defiantly, "I could've done that on my own."_

"_Like you could've defeated that woman on your own?" the pinkette asked, her question sounded more like a slap to the face__ for Ami__, "you could've won and you know it. Why did you freeze? That's not like you"_

"_You don't know me," she snarled, "So leave me be!"_

"_No," the pinkette drawled, "I made a promise so I'm gonna keep it."_

"_I never asked you too!"_

"_Too damn bad," she __thrust__ one hand forward, nearly punching her in the process, "Take this and shut up."_

"_Why should I?" she asked as the pinkette dropped it in her lap, along with a long thin black cord, "What is this?"_

"_It's a crystal," she answered__ flatly__, lifting up a matching teal teardrop__ that hung from her throat__, "__it's a comfort thing.__ Keep it."_

"_How__ do you know I won't just toss it in the trash?" she asked with a growl__, the crystal clenched tight in one hand_

"_Because that's your early birthday present," the pinkette __said__as__ she turned away and headed for the door, "you treasure all gifts no matter how bizarre they are."_

"_I'll just throw it away," she grumbled, staring down at the crystal with a frown on her face, the pinkette snorted in disbelief, "I will! I swear I'll throw it away!"_

_She looked back at her with a fond smile_

"_No you won't, you like crystals"_

…

If she looked close enough she could see the slight budge from her present resting beneath her once pristine hospital garb. True to the pinkette's word, she kept the little strange crystal, putting it on before she left the hospital in search of her aunt. Now she didn't know to be happy for it's cool touch, so different from the warm liquid constantly being sprayed on her, or be afraid of it because it matched the still ice pressing against her back. Should she be happy that the pinkette could find her or afraid the girl would walk into the lion's den?

"Well Hime, what do you think?!" the woman's strange cackling laughter brought her back, "Are you enjoying this as much as I am?" the woman peered up at her, staring into her chocolate orbs, "you are! I can tell! That's great! How wonderful!"

_I am?_ Ami thought staring down at the woman without emotion, _what this is… is enjoyment?_ It felt so different from what she felt when she was still little and naive, playing tag with her dearest big sister, listening to her father's soothing voice when he was sober enough to read her a story before bed, playing chess with Kameyama and learning acrobatics with Ren… was what she was feeling—the lack of feeling—could it really be enjoyment?

"You're just like your father child," the woman cackled, "your father once destroyed a whole village! It was beautiful!" she jerked at the mention of her father, her eyes widening in fear and horror. Her father a murder? He destroyed a whole village? By himself? Her drunk of an old man who was so filled with grief that his only outlet was alcohol which lead to a violent rampage in their home, which lead to him beating her… he destroyed a whole village by himself?

"Oh you're going to love him," the woman giggled like a little girl, "he's as cool as the moon! As strong as an ox! And as beautiful as a city bathed in blood!" It was clear at this point that woman didn't know who her father was, her father was a civilian, he couldn't possibly fight…

"Hm? You don't belief me?" the woman turned back to her, sadistic pleasure etching itself across her face, "you've never met your true father. The man you grew up with believing to be your daddy isn't really your daddy," the woman giggled as she jerked again, fear sped up her heart beat till she could feel it pulsing in her toes. "Your father is named Hiden, and he is my master," she spun on her heal and grinned into her face, just a foot beneath her, "Everyone in that village will be dead!" she laughed hysterically, "Epically that pink haired witch! It was enjoyable watching my blade reflect back in her ugly green eyes!"

_"I promise to protect you,"_

Warm chocolate orbs were over lapsed with dancing emeralds

_...You're a liar_

…

* * *

…

**I had a hard time trying to pick out Tenzo's undercover name, these were the names that had 'tree' in them, yes that was the theme I was going for, I was not about to give TENZO of all people a name with 'blossom' in it (I found about seven of them and they're all female)**

**Hideki—excellent timber trees**

**Hiroki—vast timber trees**

**Itsuki—tree**

**Kozue—tree branches**

**Masaki—great timber tree**

**Matsuko—pine tree child**

**Mikio—Tree trunk man (quite literal in one point of the chapter, that's why I went with this one)**

**Momoka—peach tree flower**

**Momoko—peach tree child**

**Naoki—honest timber tree**

**Suzuki—bell tree**

**I settled for Tenzo's code name to be Mikio because it seemed to be the most fitting and I honestly couldn't think of anything else :)**

**I had a lot of trouble with this chapter so I hope you liked it, I did a lot of last minute editing and writing, please tell me if I misspelled anything **

**please don't forget to review! :)**

**Page 12**


	29. Chapter 29

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 29: fifth and sixth month

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

They had long since left the hidden mist, the thanks of the Mizukage and his newly named apprentice lifting their sprits, their promises of aiding the leaf in the new war making them feel as if there was still hope for their mission. The Mizukage even promised to find the rest of the Yukimura clan and send them to the hidden leaf, were they would be safest from his still terror stricken people. The clans they did find (the Terumì, the Mizushima and the Kaguya) have all sworn their loyalty to the hidden mist village, Kimimaru wanted to follow Sakura on her journey but because he was clan heir he was restrained to his clan, which were now centered in the hidden mist village. That didn't stop him from trying to tongue tie Sakura into agreeing to let him travel, his miscalculation was that Sakura adored riddles, rhymes, word puzzles and trick sentences; in other words she won the verbal debate. On their way towards Kumo, Sakura, Haku and 'Mikio' came across a couple and their newborn, Sakura examined the child closely and informed them that the chakra network around his eyes were hyper developed, meaning he either carried a kekkei genkai in his eyes that was slowly draining the life out of him or he was on the fast track to going blind. Either way it would be best if they went to Konohagakure, were there were eye specialists that could both do more and tell them more then what she could. The couple thanked her profusely and both hurried to the village, their home packed up in less than an hour and they all but went running straight towards the village hidden in the leafs.

Now the trio was marching through ankle deep snow in the further north eastern reaches of Kumo. At one point they came across a kumo genin cell, two of its members were severely hurt and in need of a medic; against her 'big brother's' wishes Sakura and Haku tended to their injuries anyways and explained that once they were ready to travel they were restricted to the ground and had to be extra careful not to get seriously hurt again. The Jonin asked a few questions but they were easily explained away by their 'mother' having taught Sakura just about everything she knew and that after being separated by the attack on their home some time ago, they were now searching for her. He didn't seem to buy it but the girl on his cell, the one with red hair, seemed all too happy with the explanation and wished them luck on their travels. The Jonin's suspicion in them confirmed that he would later inform his Raikage, meaning they were now waiting for a Kumo Anbu unit to drop down on them and either kill them or drag them back to Kumo to be interrogated. However, as she sank down to her knee in snow, Sakura wondered who in their right mind would be traveling out in the snow.

"Imoto," her guard called out sharply, Sakura quickly scrambled onto her feet and hurried to catch up with him, wondering why he had to be the one with the longer legs. Even Haku was standing beside him, looking back at her curiously, as if he didn't understand how she got so far behind them.

"Yes nii-san?" Sakura questioned breathlessly

"We'll stop here for the night," Mikio smiled and tugged her close to him, and wrapping the ends of his thing cloak around both children, "huddle up now." Sakura smiled and grabbed Haku's hand, they both snuggled close to Michio, trying not to shiver in the cold that surrounded them like an icy blanket.

That was all she could remember before the sound of whistling glass wind chimes filled her ears and she was surrounded in darkness and warmth

…

* * *

…

He stared dully at the report sitting in his hands, he spy his placed inside the academy had finally managed to take a place in the advanced class, however it seemed as if the others in his year refused to socialize with, choosing instead to treat him like a black sheep, as if they thought he didn't belong in their ranks. Strange, the children never before considered themselves better than others of their class year, they still socialize with their old classmates, so why did they isolate his agent? Did they know he wasn't originally an academy student? He wouldn't be surprised with the young Yamanaka girl's range; her skill was abnormal even for a Yamanaka, it made him wonder if someone didn't tamper with her at some point. He reread the report and sighed, leaning back in his seat and fighting the urge to rub at his brow. Even the friendliest one in the fifth years made it clear he didn't like his agent but what was so different about his agent as compared to any other nine year old in their class year?

"Danzo-sama," he looked up at the agent appearing in his office, the young man bowed his head respectfully, awaiting permission to speak

"What is it?" he asked gruffly

"The fifth years are planning something," the boy said quickly, "I don't know what yet but they disappear from class often, having their various clones take notes for them. Either I am the only one who has noticed or the teachers have given up caring with their lack of attendance."

"Can you tell if they're contacting their predecessors?" Danzo asked curiously

"It doesn't appear so," the boy answered, "Although no one from any of the years of the advanced class will speak to me, even the forth and third years. They refuse to get within five feet of my person, as if I carry a disease."

"Don't fret about their treatment," Danzo said dismissively, "they acted the same way in regards to the Uchiha boy, they'll stop soon enough." He neglected to mention that it took said boy three years to get in the top three students good graces, where the isolation stopped and the rest of the students welcomed him warmly. It appears to be a form of a test the children place to anyone who enters at a later date then they did, the fifth years apparently are the only ones who apply the strange test though.

"Sasuke Uchiha appears to be leading the fifth years," the boy contradicted him, "they look to him for guidance as if he is the kage and they his shinobi to command."

Well, that was interesting information

"Keep a close eye on him," Danzo ordered, lowering the scroll to give the boy a pointed look, "He might be preparing them to help with his vengeance against Itachi."

"Yes sir," the boy was gone in the same breath of air, he wasn't worried about the lack of patience to be dismissed, the academy started soon and he would undoubtedly need to arrive soon to catch up with the others of his class year. Danzo returned to the mission scroll, reading through it thoughtfully, wondering about the change in descriptions, word usage and the overall flow of the report, as if the writer was depicting a scene in a story book.

…

Ino stopped just outside of the gates of the Academy, her father beside her seemed to have sensed it as well and they pretended together to be listening to Naruto's rambling while they focused on the slight burst of chakra. Soon other's from Ino's class approached them, listening to Naruto's story and watching Ino out of the corner of their eyes, knowing the distant look in her eyes said she sensed something strange. About the same time Sasuke turned the corner on his way towards the academy, was the same time a shadow dropped down from a roof and landed just three feet away from him. The group of friends all turned together to stare with various expressions at the dark form kneeling in the dirt in front of the Uchiha, three of them appeared as if they were ready to burst forward and protect Sasuke should the other form attack him. Instead they watched, statue still as the form stood and revealed himself to be Sai, their newest classmate to their year, the only one who had the potential to take Sakura's third ranking place.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked blandly, staring unimpressed at the ghostly pale boy in front of him

"To be accepted," Sai answered, surprising the boy, "I know I will not be on the same level of your third rank but I don't wish to be treated as if I have the plaque."

"We know you don't have the plaque," Sasuke drawled, "We just don't like you."

"Why?" Sai asked

"The first word out your mouth to Naruto was 'dick-less'," Sasuke drawled, "Naruto is the kindest member of the Aces; it was rude to insult him instead of greeting him like a normal human being."

"The aces?" Sai asked, "Are we not in the fifth year of the Advanced Class?"

"The fifth years are the first students in the Advanced class to be a part of the specialized training since they entered the academy at the age of six," Sasuke informed him, "as such the teachers call our generation of kids the 'Advanced Aces' because all of us are roughly around the same strength level and the only ones who have been in the class since the start without losing a member."

"You have lost Sakura Haruno and Ami Nanami," Sai pointed out, only to blink and find himself laying flat on his back, his jaw hurting and wondering dazedly why he was staring at the sky. _Note to self, don't mention those two_

"That was all kinds of stupid kid," Sai watched as a platinum haired girl bent over him, disapproval shining in her teal green eyes. "Sakura-chan will come back," the blonde said simply, "as for Ami, we may not like her but she'll return too. And when that happens you'll have no place in our ranks." He said nothing as the blonde turned on her heal and walked away, rejoining her friends, leaving him laying there to listen to the school bell ring. Sai pushed himself up and rubbed at his jaw, dusting himself off he turned to enter the academy but stopped at the sight of two kids watching him expectantly. Naruto and Shikamaru stood side by side, staring at him with calculative looks, he smiled at them and they turned away, walking into the academy.

Sighing Sai followed their example and walked to his first class; Physical Ed with Maito Gai

…

* * *

…

The next time she woke it was to the sound of shattering glass and a brief feeling of cold washing over her, she shivered and curled into her 'big brother's' hold but yelped when her head smacked against something hard and cold. Sniffing she pushed herself off Mikio and looked down at her brother sleepily, his eyes were spinning as if he were dizzy, his face was a little pale and he looked a little sick. On his other side was Haku who looked just as sleepy and bewildered as she was, his short dark hair was even knotted up, looking like wild spikes on top his head. Shivering harshly, Sakura blinked sleepily at him before turning to look around their surroundings, wondering if her brother ran out of chakra and they ended up out in the snow despite his efforts to keep them warm for the night. The first thing she saw was a pair of dancing violet eyes—she imminently screamed and launched herself over her brother to tackle a startled-awake Haku. The person with the purple eyes started laughing, high and shrill, and the two kids looked back at the laughing person with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"It's about time you guys woke up!" the girl laughed at them, "I'm Guren Kobayashi, resident genius of the Kobayashi clan."

"Some genius, you woke the prisoners," the girl yelped as someone slammed a fist into the top of her head, the two strangers then looked up at the grown man fearfully. "You three have been asleep in a casing of ice for three days, we planned to warm you up little by little so your system would get shocked but our 'resident genius' woke you by accident." Guren glared at the man for the mockery, she had worked for the past two days (since she found out about the frozen in time kids) how to introduce herself and get them to like her, heaven knows no one else in the clan did.

"Um… what happened to the tree we were under?" the girl with pink hair asked softly, almost as if she was afraid to speak to them

"It's over there," Guren answered, pointing at their roaring fire, "We needed the wood anyways, so thanks for that."

"how…" the darker haired girl started, pulling herself up a little higher beside the trembling pinkette, "how did we not wake up sooner?"

"Did you not hear king giant?" Guren asked with a raised eyebrow, "some of our clan's men found you covered in ice." The man slapped her head for the nickname before walking away and putting more wood in the fire, drawing Sakura's curious gaze. "Hay, is your hair really pink?" Guren asked, sitting on the floor and leaning forward a little, "I've never seen anyone with pink hair before, is it natural?"

"Are your purple eyes natural?" Sakura asked back, a look of annoyance on her face

"Of course," Guren replied, oblivious to the jab, "Why wouldn't they be? I'm a Kobayashi, all of us have purple eyes."

"You're mom's eyes are blue," the man replied with laughter in his voice

"She married into the family!" the girl reminded him loudly, as if irritated for the reminder

"Um… where are we?" the dark haired girl asked as she looked around themselves at the wide opens pace of the large room, only to gasp loudly as her dark eyes landed onto a large pink crystal sitting against the wall closest to them. Her gasp drew the attention of the others, Guren started to speak with a smirk on her face but the two girls interrupted her with matching shouts of distress.

"Kimi-kun/ Kimimaru!" The two girls shouted as they scrambled to their feet and ran straight at the crystal, panicked tears flying to their eyes, their path was blocked by the appearance of a black dressed man with a thick winter mask covering his face. Both girls shrieked and dived back for the teen they were with when they were captured and brought to the compound, their screams were shrill enough to wake the knocked out teen.

"I'm awake!" the boy shouted, slamming into a sitting position and startling Guren into jumping back, and then he was yelping when both girls landed right on top of him, cowering in his lap. "Ow," the boy wheezed, tears flying to his hazel eyes as his voice pitched squeaky high, "knees, watch the knees."

"Who are you three?" the new man asked sharply, the boy took deep even breaths, trying to clear his swimming sight as Sakura carefully extracted her knees from his waist. "Well, answer me already," The man ordered, taking a threatening step forward just as the room filled with a few dozen other masked people of his clan. The girls whimpered and huddled closer to the boy, as if fearing the adults who approached them. They're whimpering drew the older boy's attention, he looked up, saw the dark threatening figures and immanently wrapped himself around the two girls, branches sprouting from his back and arms protectively.

"Stop it your scaring them!" Guren shouted but her cry came too late, two of her relatives jumped forward with swords drawn and slashed at the growing branches. Blood splattered the two men and a pained scream echoed through the hall, for a moment time stopped, revealing the terrified faces of the children, the deep slashes in the boy's shoulders reaching down to his elbows, and the blood squirting out onto the two men, staining the floor and the little girls while it was at it. Then everything was on fast forward, the girls thrust one hand out over the boy's shoulders and a mixture of ice and crystal surrounded them protectively; everything moved too fast for Guren to react and she found her left foot trapped in the protective crystal of the little pink haired girl. Guren cried out in pain, curling away from the orb as best as she could but with her left foot caught there was little she could do other than to bite her lip to keep from crying out in sheer, blind pain.

"Guren," the man at the hearth called, standing up and approaching quickly, "what happened?" He asked kneeling and examining the purple haired little girl closely

"The boy tried attacking Guren sir," one of the blood soaked males answered, pointing with his sword at the girl's crystal encased ankle, "we were able to wound the boy heavily but the two girls made that and captured her anyways."

"One of them is from our clan?" He asked, brushing his fingers over the edge of the pink crystal only to jerk back as a dozen little sharp spears poked out warningly; like the quills of a porcupine.

"Sir, the only way to get Guren to safety now is too cut off her leg just above the crystal," the same male said, Guren's whimpering stilled and the man stiffened, "you know there's no saving that leg now. Its pure crystal, down to the cellular level, even if we manage to get her foot out of the crystal, her foot will still be useless. It'll begin to rot and then she's going to get sick from blood poisoning and then she's going to die. The only way to save her life now is to _cut off_ _her leg_." Guren knew her family well, she knew that there were too many training accidents with their bloodline for one of them to not come up with a special healing technique to undo the crystallization of one's cells. The man speaking now just happened to be the same one who was the most out spoken about her training in their family arts, he didn't care that she could make crystals of all shapes and styles since she was two, she was a bastard child and she should've been killed years ago. The man crouching beside her sighed and stood, turning away from her with his eyes closed in acceptance, he knew no one in their clan would be willing to heal the rambunctious, boisterous little girl. A swift nod of his head was all her relative needed to ready his sword over her trapped limb; he shifted slightly and then brought his sword down for a quick, clean cut.

His blade broke on impact

Guren wished she could see the face her cousin was making as he watched his blade fly to the side, nearly cutting the leg of the man standing closest to them. It was the best form of vengeance she could ever have against the man, and the smug look she gave him, showed her pride in her own ability to cover her extended leg in crystal without the use of hand signs. It was because of that talent that she called herself the clan genius, she maybe a child conceived out of wedlock but she was the only one who could perform their techniques without the use of hand signs.

"Guren, do you want to die?" The man in front of her asked softly

"I can talk to them," Guren panted, sweat rolling down her face as she tried not to feint, "they trust me, they'll listen to me."

"That pink haired one screamed when she saw you," he replied calmly

"Only because I scared her," Guren reasoned. "Didn't you look at them even once in the past three days they've been here? Their cloths are ripped and torn, their cloaks aren't even made for the cold, they're covered in scratches and bruises. If they came here to hurt us, why would they look so wounded, out of shape and teetering on the edge of chakra exhaustion? They were startled by me when the crystal shattered but the girls were quick to calm down once they saw me. When they saw you, fear flourished in their eyes, they're scared of _you_ not me." The man sighed and nodded slowly, thoughtfully; even if he didn't approve of her talking to the girls, he knew Guren would do it anyways, to spite him if nothing else. Eagerly the girl crawled towards the crystal, careful not to twist or bend her leg the wrong way, she reached out and hovered her hand over the surface of the crystal, watching it shift and bubble like boiling water.

"It's okay," Guren murmured gently, slowly setting her hand against the liquid looking crystal encased branches right in front of her, "I won't hurt you."

"_Liar_," a voice inside sobbed, "_you hurt Nii-san_!"

"That wasn't me," Guren reasoned, "I am Guren, remember? The genius resident of the Kabayashi clan," there were a few scoffs from her relatives, a few even started mumbling as if they were insulted with her words but the reminder of who she was made the little girl appear in the surface of the crystal, staring at her with over flowing watery green orbs. "See?" Guren murmured, smiling at the little girl, "I told you it's me, just as I told you I wouldn't—nor ever—hurt you."

"_But… Nii-san,_" the little girl looked so miserable, "_why hurt him? He was only trying to protect us!_" Guren didn't need to look to know that her most spiteful relative was currently withstanding the darkest glare her clan head could give, which was pretty good about making people quake in their boots. "_Is it wrong to protect the only family you have? When did that become a crime?!_"

"_Sakura-chan I can't get the bleeding to stop!_" the other little girl inside shouted, panic cracking her voice shrilly

"Listen if you come out I promise I'll get my aunt to heal him, okay?" Guren bargained, the little girl looked at her in disbelief, "hay, she heals me from time to time, I bet she'd be willing to heal your brother." What Guren didn't say was that her aunt cussed like a sailor and swore to beat every patient she's ever had into the grave herself if she ever saw them enter her home again. The little girl sniffed and looked down at her brother, placing her own green glowing palm on the wound on his shoulder, terror filling her face as her lips trembled and a fresh wave tears shot out of her eyes.

"I will give her the order myself little one," her clan head said, turning to look into the almost transparent crystal containing the three children, "you needn't fear us, no one in my clan will harm you again."

"_Why should I trust you?_" the little girl asked, sniffling and rubbing at her cheeks to stop the tears but frowning as they kept flowing and flowing

"I swear on the life of my child, no one shall harm you," he smiled, reassuring and warm, Guren heard the gasps and murmurs and yet she couldn't belief what she had heard. "Now will you release little Guren? She and Kaname will take your brother to our healer," he kneeled before the crystal, soft smile never falling. The little girl believed him and the crystal-ice shield shattered into pink and white dust, looking like small snowflakes and star dust in the low firelight of the large house.

"Haku-kun needs to see her too," the little girl sniffled, "I think he has a cold."

"I thought you both were girls," Guren admitted with an embarrassed blush

"It's okay," Haku sniffed, rubbing at his face with both bony scared hands, "a lot of people think I'm a girl, I've just gotten used to it." Guren pulled her leg back and poked at it delicately, surprise filling her as she found that the only thing touching her foot was her own crystal and her clothes. There was no damage that she could detect, as if her body knew of the danger before she processed it and automatically protected her against someone else's crystal by coating her limb with her own chakra based crystal. Before she could say anything she was lifted up by a relative, not the bloody one, and with her knew perspective she was able to watch two relatives create a stretcher and carefully place the boy in it before heading towards the door with Haku being carried right behind them. She looked over her cousin's shoulder at her clan head but could only see that his attention was riveted to the little girl waving three little perfectly shaped diamonds in the air, a bored look on her face as if she had been asked to answer two plus two. Her clan head was smiling and chuckling at her, encouraging her to create other shapes with crystals without losing focus on the ones she already had created. Guren turned away and set her hands into her lap, forming a little crystal diamond in her hands, letting it spin sleepily before making it shatter into dust with a heavy depressed sigh.

"Why can't he look at me like that?" Guren whispered to herself, not realizing she spoke out loud, she felt a tightening on her arm but ignored it, choosing instead to close her eyes and pretend to be a sleep so her aunt wouldn't start screaming the second she saw her. The second the doors to the large hall were closed, the clan head pulled back and his smile dropped, his eyes turning icy cold as he stared straight into the little girl's eyes seriously.

"They're gone and safe, now answer my questions brat," he ordered coldly, "Who are you?"

"You could ask nicely," the pinkette whispered, shrinking back from him as if in fear

"Do you take me for a fool girl? I know from your chakra levels alone that you are at least Jonin level," he retaliated in a tone that was nearly a hiss, "I do not like repeating myself."

"Ch, there's just no way to be polite with you is there?" the girl asked, instantly her little floating crystals glowed brightly before moving and turning into a chair beneath her, lifting her slightly into the air. "I came all the way here from the land of fire, I figured being demanding, bitchy and rude would properly get me nowhere so I thought I could use a bit of manners with you."

"You knew we were following you?" the man asked with narrowed eyes

"Following us? Since when?" she asked straightening in her seat with a bewildered look

"Continue," he sighed, "Who are you looking for?"

"The crystal wielding clan," Sakura dead paned, her face dropping into her hand with 'pop', "I want to talk to the clan head." His eyes narrowed but it seemed to be unnoticed by the pinkette, "Fine my name is Sakura Haruno, I am the Sandaime Hokage's apprentice and village heir. In other words upon my eighteenth year I will become the fifth Hokage. Happy now?"

"How old are you?" he asked with a slight frown

"I'm nine," Sakura replied as if she couldn't belief that was his question, "Are you going to tell me where the crystal wielding clan is or not?" the hall was silent as everyone stared at the girl, "What?"

"What do you want with them?" he asked, fringing innocent curiosity

"None of your business," Sakura shot back with a smile

"If you want to know where they are you're going to have to tell me," he replied just as 'nicely'

"Its business concerning the fourth great shinobi world war," Sakura replied, he straightened in his crouch, his clansmen whispering to each other in confusion and fear, none of them wanted to participate in a war, that was why they secluded themselves in the furthest reaches of the mountains. "What you didn't know?" the girl asked mockingly, "guess that's what happens when you decide to be recluses."

"Don't mock us girl," his still bloody clan member hissed at her, violet eyes glowing like furious embers in the dim light of the hall, "it wouldn't take much to kill a brat like you."

"I should hope you use something advantage to you then," she replied sweetly, a slight wind picking up around her, as if in warning, "It wouldn't be wise to attack unprepared."

"Enough," he ordered, everyone looked at him, a mixture of surprise and irritation on their faces, "what would you say if I said we are the clan you are seeking?"

"I would ask for proof," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes as if that was obvious, "What I have to say to mister clan head of the crystal wielders is completely confidential." He raised one hand and a lazily spinning diamond shaped crystal formed out of thin air; she perked at the floating crystal, straightening in her seat and her eyes widening as if she's never see anything like it before.

"I carry a message from the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi," Sakura said immanently jumping to her feet and dispersing her crystalline seat, she pulled out a scroll from a storage seal on her wrist and opened it to begin reading, even the air around her changed from a careless mouthy brat to a professional ambassador. "In seven months' time a demon will be born, his power strong enough to wipe out the five great nations in one night. If you seek to survive, to have a fighting chance, we of the five nations council request that you choose a village to affiliate with and fight in the alliance, at this point we don't care which village you choose so long as you stand up and fight with us." Hundreds of whispers erupted all at the same time, defining his ears as he stared disbelievingly at the little girl standing regally in from of him, silent and patient, as if she expected their gossiping ways. They had heard of whispers over the past months of a war but they saw no marching armies, no stealthily advancing battalions, no unusually large shipments of heavily guarded metals and materials, no units or large cells swarming through their forest searching for an enemy that doesn't exist. It was as if the war existed in rumors only, now this, a nine year old delegate from the south decreeing a request of aid _from the five nations council_. Just how was he supposed to respond to this? Treat it like a joke and dismiss her? Pull his people further north just in case she spoke the truth? Break the law his father past down to him? Join a hidden village and let his people excommunicate him and move further north, beyond the mountains where they would be lost to traveling the new lands for an eternity?

"You're a liar," his most vocal relative growled, fear and fury echoing in his midnight eyes. The man lifted a hand and before his clan head could move, three crystals were shooting at the girl, but they never touched her. She only glanced at them and suddenly they were spinning around her, completely at her mercy, electing gasps and silence from his clansmen.

There has never been a member of their clan that could take control of another's crystals

"I make it a point to speak the truth," Sakura drawled as she rolled up her scroll and held it out to the clan head, "specifically when I'm required to deliver a message."

"But... A fourth great war?" He asked, drawing the young child's attention back to himself, "who's fighting who?"

"The five great Kage know all the details," she shrugged carelessly, "I know only the message. Now what is your decision?"

"What is the point of bringing this message to us?" He asked her, taking the scroll to read later, "What is the purpose?"

"To make you chose," she answered simply, "my mission is to travel through the Eastern and Northern lands searching for any and all shinobi clans who have yet to form contracts with a hidden village. I am to deliver the message, record the answer and report back to my Kage or the nearest Kage by the end of the fifth month. This way I will have enough time to train for the war myself and be ready when it is time to be deported to the main battle field."

"But your just a baby!" One of the mothers gasped in horror

"How many months do you have left?" He asked, rising to his full height and beginning to pace rapidly, "how much time do we have to choose? When dose the real battle begin? Where is that located?"

"I've been traveling for five months, I have another five months left before I can return home," Sakura answered, "I would give you a week to travel out of the five nations if you want to retreat to safer lands but I doubt that would do much good, according to my friend back home, the Demon's goal is to wipe out all existence of humanity and pave a road for the goddess of the moon to return to earth. I don't know where or when the major battle begins, I'm sorry that is all I know."

"Who is your friend that he would know this information?" he asked, turning around and frowning at the girl, "How would he know that?"

"Shikamaru Nara is the smartest boy of my generation," Sakura frowned at him, "He may be nine but he's rarely wrong, even now. He has plenty of access to information regarding the war, his father is one of the councilors, so if his conclusion is that the demon arising will wipe out humanity so that the goddess could return to do her thing, then that's a possibility of at least ninety-five percent."

"Why should we trust the word of a nine year old?" he was unprepared for the answer, everyone was, no one had time to think, to speak, to contradict, to validate anything the girl said before they were all trembling, collapsing to their knees in sheer, blind terror. Like a switch had been flipped, the passive, calm, royal air around the girl disappeared and was replaced by a crushing force of hurricane winds filled with agitation, annoyance, and something not quiet angry. Surrounding the nine year old was a torrent of wind, filled with blobs and streams of water and chunks and flakes of dirt. It didn't take a genius to understand that the girl commanded three elemental natures, water, earth and air, even at the age of twelve or thirteen years old, to be able to command even one element as efficiently as she is commanding three, would be enough to label even their outcaste as a prodigy.

"In Konohagakure no Sato, the shinobi academy is split into two factions, the normal academy everyone enters indiscriminately and the Advanced Class where only the ten strongest, fastest, and especially the smartest are permitted to enter," Sakura explained, staring into the clan head's eyes unabashed, as if she preferred her chakra to be released and not constantly suppressed, she even pulled out a small gray sleeve bandage and tugged it on over her long sleeved red shirt, revealing the emblem proudly. "In this 'advanced class' the ten top students of the generation are separated into ten ranks called 'seats', certain seats are given titles like the one I carry. I am Sakura Haruno, third seat of year five, also known as the seat of the 'Sprite'. Shikamaru Nara is the second seat of year five, also known as the 'Challenger'. Sasuke Uchiha is the first seat of year five, meaning he holds the tittle 'questionnaire'. We top three students are called the 'trident' because we have been the top three students since we entered the academy at the age of five and have not lost our individual ranks since we entered the Academy class, at the same age. Upon graduation of the academy, we would be imminently tested to see if we are ready for the rank of Chunin, we three would become the well-known 'graduates of the Advanced Class', meaning that instead being placed on a genin cell to be trained by a Jonin, we are placed in a specialized field and become one of the many commanders in it." As fast as it had been released her chakra was once again returned to her tight rein of suppression, as if nothing happened.

"Although," Sakura said slowly, thoughtfully, as she stared down at the clan head, her head tilted innocently to the side, "if you can't even stand at the feel of my released signature then perhaps you should opt out if the war. Go hide under a rock somewhere, its more than clear that you're nowhere near ready to be a part of the war and especially not a part of any hidden village." There wasn't a tone of mockery or contempt in her voice; she spoke as if she was telling them that the snow was too cold to travel in, like she was genuinely concerned with their wellbeing. Sakura turned away from the clan head and walked past the dozens of trembling Kabayashi clansmen, she stopped in front of the crystal encased Kaguya child and tapped on the crystal.

"I know and understand your hesitance," Sakura said as she watched cracks crawl across the surface of the crystal, "I've tried for the past three years to stay under the radar, pretending to be weaker, slower, softer, dumber then my classmates, trying desperately not to be seen, giving them the chance to shine and glow, But my efforts where in vain. I am here, I was the one chosen for this mission, I was tasked to collect the clans hiding away in isolation, I was chosen to be the ambassador of my village. All I wanted was to make my friends happy, give them talents they could excel in, make them leaders in their birth rights, make them glow and shine like moon light." She smiled bitterly as the cracks in the crystal connected, no room or space to grow any further, "but... That didn't work, I'm still here and they're still there, moving through life without me." The crystal shattered, the boy collapsed into her waiting arms, seeing her familiar pink hair he sighed in relief and retracted his defensive shell of bone, visibly shrinking in her arms. Sakura smiled to herself and gently lifted the white haired boy over her shoulder, bracing his body against her's, she turned back to the clan and smiled bitterly at them.

"I'll go ahead and inform Raikage-sama that you're just a myth, so go ahead and be happy for me okay?"

She disappeared before anyone could get enough sense to speak

It wasn't even a minute later that they listened to the soft clacking of children's feet, some of his people collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily, others adjusted themselves to sit down, still breathing heavily in shock. He pushed himself back just enough to sit with his hands limp between his knees, his wide purple eyes staring numbly at his still shaking palms. The approaching child walked steadily through their rows, only to stop before him, she took a deep shuttering breath, fat tears dripped out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks to splash against the floor.

"Daddy," she whispered brokenly, "I've always wanted to call you that, ever since I found out who you were. But I never did because mama never wanted me to know you were my dad, I think she was ashamed of you." She sniffed and reached down to the floor, her smooth, pale hands trembled as she carefully set a crystal encased baby maple leaf down in front of him.

"I am a bastard child of the clan head," Guren murmured, smiling bitterly to herself, "I never really did belong here... So now I'm going to travel with them, I'm going to the village hidden in the leafs, I'm going to fight in this war and I'm going to survive." He lifted his head up to look at her face but only found himself staring at the back of his once lover, a woman too strong to accept being a lover and not his wife.

"Good bye... Daddy," His daughter walked away from him, tall and proud, regretting nothing. She was too much like her mother, breaking his heart and shattering his world as she walked out if his life forever.

"_Good bye... Renjiro,_" His love walked away from him, tall and proud, regretting nothing. His precious daughter was both wrong and correct about her mother, she did want her to know who her own father was. That was why she named their daughter 'Guren', 'gu' from her name of 'Megumi' and 'ren' from his name 'Renjiro'.

His queen and his princess… what a fool he is for letting them walk away

…

* * *

…

She didn't understand why she had been taken from her home, she knew only that others from her village had been disappearing randomly, she was only eight, she shouldn't be forced to deal with this! All the same, those carrying her in a crate seemed to care little for her age or her lack of knowledge; they only chuckled together with evil grins. She wanted to shout, to cry, to beg for mercy but the last person that did that they extracted from the crate and tortured together just outside of it, making the older boy an example to the three others sharing the crate with him. So she and two other kids her age remained silent, sniffing softly to show their fear but where still too scared to wail like they felt the need to. She watched fearfully as the bright forest turned into a dark tunnel, damp musky air filled their lungs and stung their eyes. She didn't know how long they remained marching through the dark cave, with only one man holding a touché that seemed brighter than the sun was leading the way, never once stopping or hesitating in their slow purposeful walk. One of the children fell asleep to the rhythmic bouncing and slumped against her, seeking warmth in the icy coldness of their new terrifying surroundings. She wanted to sleep too but she was too scared to, fearing that if she woke she would find out that it wasn't a dream and that she was just wishing for the impossible. Still she closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep, listening to every step as closely as she could; as if she could remember her way out by listening close enough. All too soon the two men began to slow and the one fussed with a set of keys, cursing elaborately under his breath, dropping his end of the crate and walking towards his friend to search for the right key in the light of the touché. The thudding woke the little boy and he whimpered softly, curling into her side to seek comfort but receiving none from her as she tried to focus on what they were doing.

"Just F*knock already," the one drawled in complete boredom, a scream from the other side of what she assumed to be a door answered him

"I ain't f*pissing 'er off!" The other hissed, "she's f***ing Jashin-sama's favorite! She can kill us!"

"F**** pansy," the other drawled stepping forward and slamming one meaty fist against the door three times, his knocking echoing hauntingly through the stone hall. There was the sound of creaking, rusty old metal hinges screaming to be oiled or to be released from the lunatic's possession. Neither man had the option of speaking before blood splattered against the crate, making the two younger kids scream shrilly, whoever was in the room didn't bother killing the other man. They just grabbed the end of the crate and dragged it into the room, forcing the kids to stare in horror at the beheaded corpse their crate was forced over and then in complete terror as the person swung the wooden crate against the nearest wall, shattering it on impact. The boys whimpered and cried, the younger one began wailing loudly for his mother, the older one clutched at his shoulder with teary black eyes, she just tried not to draw attention to herself. She scrambled away from the boys, pressing her back against the sticky slimy wall and tried not to cough at the stench of rot filling her noise and feeling all too glade that their kidnappers never fed them in the twenty-four hours they had them. She sniffed and crawled further back from the boys, hoping their noise would make their capture forget about her but as her eyes adjusted to the low crimson light filling the room, true terror began filling her. Not the fear of being taken from her home, not the fear of never seeing her patents again, not the fear she felt watching that boy get ripped apart as his blood soaked them from head to toe, not the terror she felt at having a corps get dragged under her.

No, this terror was different, this terror was certainty: The certainty of her death

The stone room was filled with corpses of all ages, genders and appearances, all pushed to the side to make room for the giant glowing carving on the floor, alighting the blood soaked room and giving it the appearance of being created from walls formed by dried blood. As if this room was made just to kill and slaughter inside, so that every drop of blood made the glistening walls to appear as if they bled, profusely and endlessly. There was a woman standing in the center of the glowing carving, drenched and stained in bright, bloody red, as if she took a bath in blood and never rinsed. Parts of her body was even black and maroon from blood that dried in place and had yet to flake off, she looked like a demon created from and survived by stealing the blood of the living and bathing in it constantly. Like a human with transparent skin, flesh and organs, leaving only their bright, crimson, glowing blood to be seen in any form of light.

"Wakie, wakie Hime~," the woman taunted, sadistic pleasure making her voice sound with a purr, raising one hand and snapped her fingers. "I've got you a pres~sent," directly behind the woman a shape shifted against the tall black wall, drawing her attention as it slipped and splashed against the floor like a sack of water falling into a puddle. Her fear was indescribable as she stared numbly at that perfectly pale white cross shape on the wall, chains racked against the stone loudly, telling her that the thing that flopped against the blood soaked floor was another human being, another kid not much older than herself. The kid that plopped against the blood soaked floor started to move, looking like a lifeless sack drenched in blood was slowly becoming alive, its limbs dripping and oozing blood as if it were a thick goo that refused to let go of it. The crimson light of the carving on the floor glowed hauntingly on the kid as they lifted their face off the pool of blood covering the entire expanse of floor in the room, revealing flat, sunken, haunted, expressionless, _dead_ brown eyes. Long strands of hair slipped past the young girls sunken in face, thick and drenched, stained black from old dried blood, blood that was never washed out.

This child looked as if they were truly formed from not quite solid blood, strips of thick red goo dripping off them like sap to a tree

"Good girl," the woman purred as the child pushed herself up to her feet as if standing for the first time. The girl was slouching as if her spine couldn't straighten, head bowed as if it couldn't lift any higher, legs trembling as if her stick thin body was too much weight to hold up. "Come here Hime," the woman ordered sweetly, as if she was calling over a cute puppy. The wobbly child shuffled a foot forward, her weak knees nearly giving way with every sickening slide of her foot through the inch deep puddle of blood coating the floor. The woman cooed loving at the girl, encouraging every step she took until she was close enough to touch the woman.

"Do you see them hime?" The woman asked as she stroked the girl's face, pointing to the crying boys huddled together. "I got them just for you," the girl turned her lifeless eyes onto the two boys, a flicker of something shimmered in those deep chocolate eyes, almost like recognition. "Here you go hime," the woman pressed something long and thin into the girls hand, smiling at the girl like a doting mother, "you know what to do." The girl looked down at the stake, staring blankly at the blood staining the onyx weapon, before starting to slide through the blood coating the floor, walking painfully slow towards the boys. The boys whimpered, clinging together as realization slowly crept into their disbelieving minds, fearing the worst but refusing to admit its possibility until there was no other alternative.

"Please," the younger blond boy whimpered, "don't do this." The girl said nothing as she lifted the stake high, staring lifelessly down at them, "please," the blonde begged, "you don't have to do this." She brought it down and the blonde screamed as he was pushed aside, the stake scraping his arm as he landed harshly in the puddle of blood. He took deep shuttering breaths as he looked down at his legs, fat tears rolling down his round cheeks as he stared at the boy who pushed him out of the way.

"Satoru?" The boy called softly in disbelief, "Satoru that's not funny..." He reached out, feezing as the girl ripped her weapon out of the boy, making a stream of it hit the blonde right across the face. "Satoru... Satoru... Satoru, Satoru, Satoru! Satoru!" The blond started shouting, shaking the body of the darker haired boy who saved him, "Satoru! Satoru! Satoru! Satoru!" He started wailing loudly, his voice echoing in the empty room, the name of his friend sounding like a broken mantra echoing in the room hauntingly. She watched the girl change, before she was like a sluggish half formed creature obeying its master; now she was rigid, stiff like a frozen corps. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything as the girl reached out to the little blonde boy and grabbed him by the back of his neck, with a strength she didn't show before she lifted the hysteric little boy and stared into his terrified blue orbs. She watched as something transpired, the boy's eyes widened, and then the stake was in the boy's chest, forcing him to cough up blood, splattering the already soaked girl.

The woman laughed shrilly, uncontrollably, hysterically, insanely, all too pleased with herself

"That's my girl!" the woman cooed loudly, "Now look behind you, go on! There's my favorite little present right there just for you! Those two were just beginners she's the real treat!" The girl turned, dull amber staring blankly at her, "look at her ugly pink hair!" That wasn't right, she didn't have pink hair but that didn't seem to make a difference because something shimmered in the depths of those dull lifeless eyes belonging to that strange blood soaked girl. "She's just like that hideous fiend who tried to keep you from me! Isn't she just as ugly? Her eyes are blue but that's okay, I think they're related, they both have ugly pink hair after all." The girl turned, ambling towards her like a broken doll, her stake dragging in the pool of blood, making little ripples towards her. "That's it," the woman whispered, her eyes dancing in the crimson light of the carving, "that's it…" she tried scrambling away, tears flying into her eyes as she realized that the chain wrapped around her ankle was attached to the two boys and not the crate like she first thought, she couldn't scramble any further back, not without dragging the boys with her and that couldn't be done, not with her meager strength.

"Ssssssss," The strange hissing sound came from the girl, slow and weak like she was trying to remember how to speak, "Ssssssaaaaaa," she cried out lifting her arms in front of herself protectively, "Sssaaaaakuuuuuurrraaaaaa," she heard a slap into the pool in front of her, felt gentle fingers touch her arms, lowering them so she could see into the blood soaked face of the girl. "Ssaakuuuraaaa," the girl pronounced the name softly, lowly, slowly as if she was saying it for the first time and wanted to get its pronunciation right. "Ssaakuuraa," she sniffed and looked at the slightly older girl, her eyes widening at the gentle look on the other girl's sunken in face. Her eyes weren't as dull as they were before, still sunken, still haunted, still lifeless, but they weren't as dull, as if the name she whispered, breathed just that touch of life back into them. The smile tilting her lips was soft and gentile, like a whisper of silent joy, softening her harshly starved face so it wasn't nearly as skeleton looking as before; she could almost pass for pretty if she wasn't soaked in blood. It made the young girl wonder what her older counterpart looked like beneath all that blood, did she have hair that matched her eyes? Was it thick and curly or thin and flat?

"Saakuraa," the girl whispered, "Strrroonger toogeeeth—"

"I-I don't know you," she stuttered fearfully, "My name is Mio not Sakura, my hair is red not pink—" she realized too late that, that was the wrong response, she should've played along, should've agreed, should've pretended to know the girl but she didn't, she spewed out the truth without thinking and watched in slow-motion as the girl's eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Please let me go—" her voice was cut off as the stake was plunged directly into her heart, sliding through her ribcage like a hot knife in warm butter. The girl stood as Mio slid to the floor like a marinate with cut strings, summer blue eyes slowly growing dull as her life force spilled out of her body like a whole in a water sack.

"Good girl," the woman cooed lovingly, "that was beautiful Hime."

_Sakura… are you really dead?_ She felt the woman wrap her arms around her, embracing her like a loving, dotting mother, _did you really leave me here all alone?_

"It's almost time Hime," Rukia whispered in her ear, "Soon you'll get to meet your father for the first time ever but there are steps you have to take to meet him. Are you ready?" She said nothing as the woman pulled back and stroked her face, smiling down at her like they weren't standing in inch thick blood pool that was slowly growing higher and higher with every living sacrifice that entered the room and never dared to leave again.

"You're ready for the next set," Rukia murmured, "I can see it in your eyes, you're ready for the first step."

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticisms lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing! And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 16**


	30. Chapter 30

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 30: seventh and eighth month

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

_"in one scene location_ _an_d now in another scene"

(Applies only to Sasuke's and Sakura's conversation through the communication pendent)

…

* * *

…

Sakura turned in the snow looking behind herself at the sleepy snow covered little village, looking too much like a painting to be a place she and her friends were surviving in for the past three days. A groan from Kimimaru and a pained groan from Mikio had her turning back around, smiling reassuringly at Haku, Sakura weaved a few hand signs and made a horse and carriage. Being far enough away from the village now, Sakura deemed it safe enough to experiment with the crystals she was hoping to get some training for. Haku's eyes lit up and he eagerly hurried to put Mikio inside, safe and 'warmer' from the blistering cold of the snow. Sakura followed him in, gently setting Kimimaru on the cool but not icy crystal inside before walking to the front and sitting at the edge of the front seat, ready to command the horse into a gallop. Haku hurried outside before she could and she was forced to wait for him to come back, when he did he had an arm load of snow covered wood. Sakura didn't get to speak her confusion before he pulled the snow off the wood and sent it careening outside, then repeated the process by pulling the water out of the wood, drying it in seconds, making it look as if it had been dried for three years. With dancing eyes Sakura formed another set of hand signs and made a kind of bucket for the wood to be set in so it could burn and then curved the roof of the carriage up for the smoke to gather and even gave it a slight hole for the smoke to escape. Haku nodded his approval and pulled out another bubble of water, sending it out the window with a flick of his wrist-a startled yelp was his answer.

"Oh come on! Is that seriously how your gonna greet me?!" Sakura and Haku jumped at the window he sent the bubble of water out, standing in the snow looking like a wet cat was Guren, soaked from head to toe, dressed in a simple green vest and black mini-skirt with arm warmers, leggings and high heals.

"Jerks," Guren wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, "I only have this one set of clothes, now I'm gonna get sick!"

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked with wide eyes

"I'm coming with you," Guren barked at her, "do you have something I can change into?"

"Yes, come in, come in!" Sakura ushered the girl into the carriage, Haku sighed and put the dried wood into the pit. Guren stepped into the carriage, her eyes widening as she realized the huge amount of space inside, its perfectly shaped crystalline seats, windows and doors with coverings and even the curved ceiling with the hole. "Come on, lets get you out of that!" Sakura said mildly panicked as she hurried to pull Guren's soaking vest off.

"Sakura-Chan, she might not want to be stripped in front of a boy," Haku drawled at her

"Haku, your undressed," Sakura shot back at him, looking pointedly at his bare chest. Haku blinked at her and looked down, sighing he dug in his pants (that he still wore) and pulled out the fire starter sticks, tossing in a bit of kindling to help start up the fire. Guren snickered and easily took off her vest, letting it hang in the back to dry over the window so it wouldn't drip water on the two unconscious males laying on either side of the carriage. Her vest was soon accompanied by her long sleeved shirt, leaving her in her skirt and black belly under shirt, and turned around in time to watch Haku strike the timber into flames just as Sakura took off her cloak and hung it up on the front window. Rolling her eyes as Haku coughed and hacked, Guren weaved her hands through a few hand signs and imagined what her metal fireplace back home looked like. The little crystal bowl that Sakura made for the fire to be in was soon capped by a crystal pipe and cover, large holes reminded in the cover to allow heat out and firewood entrance, the pipe kept the smoke traveling straight up and out of the carriage.

"Haku-kun, hurry up and hang your top up," Sakura instructed as she started unzipping her traveling kimono top, jostling slightly as the carriage started to move, "You're as wet as Guren is."

"Mikio is going to flip when he wakes up," Haku sighed as he did as he was instructed, rolling his eyes while he was at it

"Hay our underclothes are staying on, its not like any of us are buck-naked," Sakura replied, "besides we take baths together because he still hasn't figured out that you're a boy."

"He'll figure it out now," Guren chuckled, shivering lightly as she took a seat at Kimimaru's feet. "Oh yeah, who's this?"

"His name is Kimimaru Kaguya," Sakura answered, "we saved him from... Uh~his dad? Uncle?" She looked at Haku as if he knew the answer, but he only shrugged clueless, "his clan head head kept him in a cage underground." Sakura shrugged and shortened the story to the bare bones of it.

"Oh yeah Guren-san, how was that you got got Kimi-kun in your clan technique anyways?" Haku asked curiously, "why is he even here in the north?"

"Um, on of my relatives said that after they captured you three in the crystal he jumped out of no where and tried attacking them," Guren answered, scrunching up her face in thought. "I think he thought you guys were in trouble and tried to protect you but ended up getting caught himself..."

"Oh? so he followed us from wave?" Sakura asked herself, shaking her head with a sigh, she slumped against the head seat of the carriage, "Mikio-nii either sensed him and ignored him or was unaware of his presence following us."

"Would your brother really be that cruel to another kid?" Guren asked, Sakura looked at her with hooded eyes, as if she thought the answer was obvious but then sighed when she remembered that Guren had only seen Mikio try to protect Sakura and Haku when he first woke up. The three continued talking for a while, becoming comfortable as the crystal carriage became warm, almost too warm to keep their woolen soaks on. Before the three deemed it late enough to go to sleep, Haku had Sakura stopped the carriage and they both picked out a tree branch for their next firewood. Picking a thick branch, Sakura and Guren both crystallized it and broke it off close to the trunk, pulling the crystal encased branch towards them the girls easily broke the branch into equal sections and left the pieces for Haku to take the water out of and discard out the window on the other side. Once the new fire wood was 'chopped' and 'dried' ninja style, Sakura stepped out side into the cold and hurried to the crystal horse pulling the crystal carriage, patting and stoking it like she would with a real horse, Sakura murmured little words to it and injected a burst of chakra into it. Once she was confident that the horse wouldn't shatter while pulling the carriage, she hurried back inside to rest, never noticing the team of ninja hiding in the branches high over head. Sakura told the horse to return to its gallop with a soft tug of the paper thin crystal reins and then pinned her cloak back over the front window, easily tucking herself into a ball beneath it and wishing her friends good dreams for the night. Outside the carriage two shadowed figures restrained a comrade from charging the crystal travel orb, their leader sighed heavily and pressed two fingers to the mike on his neck, watching the horse gallop regally through the forest.

"Targets located, heading your way eight-feet,"

"_Roger that cap'in, how long til arrival?_" That wasn't eight-feet, that was his big brother

"At current pace, echo five minutes, commander," He shouldn't be surprised the man would want to see these kids himself

"_Distinguishing identification?_"

"Trust me commander, you'll know when you see them,"

"Hay eight-feet watch out for the brunet chick! She dumps icy cold water on you!" He sighed at the echo sounding in his scull from his irate teammate, who had the misfortune of receiving several freezing cold buckets from the said brunet when she pulled the water out of the branch they then used as firewood.

"_Copy that fox-trot!_" The man gabbed quickly into the mike before yelping as their commander punched him in the head

_It's going to be a long night,_ he thought with a heavy sigh, listening to the bickering of the two brothers on the other end of the line

"_Don't wake the brats eight-feet, they just went to bed_," the two brothers froze at the even voice sounding in their ears

"Understood," the elder brother relied, clapping one hand over his brother's mouth to prevent the smart mouth reply. "Now B, I want you to be _silent_ when you take control of the horse, I understand that being quiet is a little difficult for you but please try."

"No problem bro! I'll be quiet like ni~ight!" The younger brother said loudly, holding up a peace sign while he was at it, "Yaooo~o!" the man howled in pain as his brother slammed a fist into his head

"Quiet implies no shouting!" the older shouted in irritation

"Raikage-sama, here comes the carriage," both brothers readied themselves on their branch, crouching low to watch their target approach in the dark of the night. They leaned a little closer over the edge of the branch, listening to the soft tinkling of bells and glass-chimes, wondering what kind of shinobi used a carriage that was all but a beacon of their location. When they saw the horse the two brothers pulled back in bewilderment at the sight of the carriage, they were left speechless, staring dumbly at the bright pretty crystal assortment as if their brains stopped working. In fact the two brothers were left staring at the horse and carriage as it trotted past, their teammates seemingly unconcerned that a crystal horse and a crystal carriage went trotting under them as they quickly and eagerly gave chase.

"Uh… bro, how am I supposed to take control of the horse?" B asked curiously

"Shut up and catch up!" Ei shouted, diving after the crystal horse and their teammates, silently cursing himself for staring and not charging. Upon catching up to the carriage, Ei found his teammates weren't concerned with the fact that their target was inside a giant crystal carriage, they were just concerned with the waves of warmth emitting from it. They were all laying in various positions on the carriage, smiling sleepily as they warmed their bodies on the crystal, being in the cold for an entire day often made one feel as if ice replaced their bones.

"Bloody idiots," Ei sighed

"Got the horse!" B shouted as he jumped out of the trees, aiming for the seat at the front of the carriage. E watched in horror as B destroyed the seat, broke the crystal reigns and removed the left back leg of the horse upon landing-the whole time he sounded like a herd of dying elephants stampeding through a fine china warehouse. As such when the carriage slammed onto the breaks and sent B flying out of the broken seat and then one very angry little pinkette stepped out of the carriage looking like sateen's spawn, Ei made no attempt at saving his little brother from the young girl's wrath.

The only reason he didn't interfere in the beat down was because he knew B wouldn't go eight tails on her and she wouldn't kill him

"Yaow! That hurt! You a demo-OOW!"

Ei sighed as he rethought his oppion on the pink haired girl: _h__opefully_ she wouldn't kill him

…

* * *

…

She laughed loud and shrill, her eyes sparkling as she tackled her opponent, crystalline dust burst around both girls like exploding bags of flower. Unaware of the watching siblings near by, the two girls went at each other without restraint, laughing and giggling, shouting in annoyance only to snicker in amusement. The two girls had been inside the hidden cloud village for a month, practicing none stop with an ability only they could control. Their elder guard 'Mikio' was fully recovered now and was only waiting to be given a green card so they could resume their travels around Kumo undisturbed. Kimimaru was taking sword lessens with a Jonin he cought watching the girls practice one time and according to the master swordsman, the young Kaguya was absorbing his lessons like a dry sponge. Haku Yukimura was at first clued to his friends, alternating between being clued to Sakura, to attached to Kimimaru, to guarding Mikio; Sakura eventually asked the Raikage to allow Haku to take a few lessons on healing from one of his medics, preferably one who wouldn't discriminate him for not being a ninja of Kumo. Ei happily agreed because that was more information he knew about them and a higher chance to allow at least one of the bloodline carrying children to grow attached to his village and want to stay and hopefully become one of _his_ shinobi.

"Yo bro, you really going to just let them go?" B asked curiously, looking up at Ei curiously

"Not much I can do about the siblings," Ei answered, "the other three... They're too attached to pinky, I can tell they would follow her to the ends of the earth if she asked them too."

"So your giving up on them?" B asked, "That's not like you." Ei didn't look at him as he watched Sakura create a stampede of crystal horses, aiming them right at Guren, who could only block with her crystal floral shield.

…

_"But I was told that Guren is the only one left who has that ability," Ei said straitening in his seat as he stared__ at__ the leaders of a clan claiming to be the illusive crystal wielders._

_"So Haruno-sama kept her word," the man murmured, "I'm glad, that means she truly did not speak any lies to us that night."_

_"Her word?" Ei questioned, "are you telling me that pink haired brat lied to me? How dare she!"_

_"Tell me Raikage-sama, did the girl actually say she could not find us?" The older then dust clan elder questioned_

_"...No," he answered, remembering that her only answer to his question was her request to be forgiven, "Guren was the one who said the clan never existed... She learned everything from her mother..."_

_"I'm not surprised that Guren would be the one to lie," the clan head sighed with a sad accepting smile, "we were never a good family for her, so in a sense she was never really a part of the clan."_

_"Tell me something Kabayashi-sama, are you Guren's father?" Ei asked__ bluntly_

_"Don't be preposterous!" Another elder barked, "that wild child is a bastard who came from a father who died long before she was even born!" A knew a lie when he heard one, even if that lie has been rehearsed a million times in the span of twelve short years. He knew the elder's words were lies not because of his skill at detecting lies but because of the regretful smile on the monarch's face and the sorrow in his deep midnight purple eyes._

_"Please do not tell that child that we came to this village," the man requested, bowing deeply to Ei, "she must not know that we are here. She must learn to stand by her choice and never waver from it."_

_"...Are you speaking from experience?" Ei asked softly, "if you never tell her who you are, she'll end up resenting you."_

_"She already dose," he answered, the expression on his face was heart broken beyond description_

…

"Something's can't be changed no matter what we do," Ei answered

"I can't agree more," the two brothers turned at the voice and found Michio approaching with bandages still wrapped around his shoulders and upper arms. "Have you spoken to Hokage-sama yet, Raikage-sama?"

"I sent a message out yesterday," he answered evenly, "we have no other roque shinobi clans here in the north, what will you do now?"

"We've swept through most of the east because our cover was blown in five days. Because of that, we were able to sweep through relatively easily before moving up here, it helped that the Mizukage sent sensors out to look for anyone with a developed chakra system to get any stragglers we might've missed," Michio said thoughtfully, stopping between the two brothers, "We're half way through the seventh month of our year long mission... I suppose we can take it easy on our way back home."

"Yo man, after all that work you just gonna up and leave us?" B asked, "you're not even gonna say bye to the kids you saved a while back?"

"The red head already paid me a visit while I was in the hospital," Michio answered, smiling at the eight-tailed jinchiriki, "she told me that her teammate, Darui, is already practicing with his sword again."

"Your no fun man," B pouted at him, Michio simply smiled back at him unconcerned with the childish pouting

"Did you forget that I'm traveling with three manipulative little girls and a smart mouthed run-away?" Michio asked, "In order to out smart Sakura, one must know more then just her intentions."

"Is she really that manipulative?" B asked

"How long is the longest conversation you've had with her?" Michio asked curiously

"Less than three seconds," Ei answered bluntly, ignoring the devastated look his brother gave him, "every time he starts talking she gives a look and he shuts up instantly, _every time_."

"You didn't get punched by her," B replied, slumping as he pouted at his brother

"I didn't destroy her pet and then go five tails on her," Ei shot back

"...You woke her up didn't you?" Michio asked, turning to look at the jinchuriki

"She's not nice first thing in the morning," B grumbled, head bowed as if the memory was enough to make him feel as if she punched him again

"I could'a told ya that," Michio replied dryly, rolling his eyes as he returned his attention back to the Raikage. "I was told that you've offered Guren, Haku and Kimimaru a place here amongst your people, is that true?"

"Yes," he replied, "is that a problem?"

"For Guren no, for Kimimaru and Haku, yes," Michio answered passively, "Haku's family has already agreed to ally with the hidden leaf. Kimimaru is the clan heir of the Kaguya tribe, who have allied themselves with the hidden mist."

"I see," Ei murmured turning to look back at the two sparing girls, watching Guren propel herself up to meet Sakura in the air, "I gathered as much. The boys are attached to your little sister as if they were surgically planted at her hips."

"Ah, that's right," Michio blinked as he remembered something, B wondered what that bizarre analogy could've reminded the red head and if it was something good or bad. "I was instructed to give this to you, B-sama," Michio said digging in his pocket and handing over a small yellow scroll, well worn from a long travel across three of the five great countries. "It's from your little brother, he asked me to give it to anyone who was the same as him. You count." B took the scroll and opened it, reading the well written letter inside, Ei raised an eyebrow and peaked over his little brother's shoulder while Michio chuckled and walked away from them.

_Hi my name is, wait I can't tell you that. Jiji said it could lead to bad juju*._

_Anyways, we're the same! How many tails are you protecting? I'd tell you__ about my tenant__ but Jiji would properly get mad at me for it, again with the bad luck stuff._

_Do you like your demon? Is he/she nice? Do you have any other siblings? What's it like in your village? Is it sunny all the time or an endless sea of rain? Is it warm there or cold?_

_It's always sunny here, the __only __time we get snow is during December when we climb to the top of the mountain and I mean the very, itsy, bitsy top. Where the snow is on the mountain is so high that by the time you get there you're too tired to play in it, that's how high you have to climb to get it and if you're a day late you don't get to play in it at all. Its typically pretty warm, sometimes when its cloudy it gets really cold and I kind of just wanna burro in my blankets and hide from the rest of the world for a week or two but then Sakura-chan, she's like my best friend ever, usually drags me out of bed to go to school so I don't end up late or skipping by accident. Do you have any best friends? What are they like? Are they violent when you anger them? I try to keep Sakura-chan happy, her right hook once knocked out three guys and she only hit the one! That day was so funny! We ended up running from every chunin that came across us because they thought we were impostures! Luckily Iruka-sensei saved us when we entered class, he said we were there all day and when the other chunin left his face got so red! Looking back it was funny and I sometimes wish I could see his red face again but at that moment me and Sakura-chan felt about an inch tall…_

A loud shout distracted the brothers from the letter and they both looked up to see Michio collapsing on the ground with a joyfully crying Sakura wrapping her arms around his neck and crying profusely all over him. B smiled to himself and returned to reading the letter, already coming up with his own responses to the questions and trying to figure out how to sneak a message out to Konoha for his fellow little brother to read.

"Go ahead and prepare your letter," Ei ordered, not looking back at B, "the hidden leaf and hidden cloud villages are allies in this war. No need to be sneaky for a little brother." B's smile was positively blinding but Ei didn't need to look at him to see that, he knew already that his little brother was over the moon with joy just to have another sibling, that was the kind of bond that wasn't broken easily and he would latch on to that bond as soon as possible.

One can not keep siblings separate, nor should one try, of that, Ei knew for sure

…

* * *

…

Sasuke was steadily getting used to not hearing Sakura's voice every night, as the nights seemed to pass minuet by minuet, it became harder and harder for her to whisper without waking one of her traveling companions. At first she was over joyed to have other kids with her, laughing and playing with her from time to time, she didn't get a whole lot of time to have snow ball fights or playing some of her favorite games with her teacher; that was why she was so happy to have other kids around. 'Mikio' was nearly ten years older then her and wasn't fond of games, he'd rather throw a kunai at her head instead of a snow ball, but with other kids she could act her age again, never worrying about what would and wouldn't make her teacher mad. She was even happier discovering that Haku, a boy who stubbornly follows them around relentlessly, is as deep a sleeper as her teacher, her best description was 'sleeping next to a snoring rock'. When they entered the northern lands where there was too much snow on the ground to sleep by one self and too cold to not share a bed in a hotel, Sakura had told him that she could no longer whisper the day to him and for now they would have to settle for the warmth of the pendent at night. He was fine with that but when she reached Kumo and had been given her own room while she waited for her guard go heal from his wounds, he had gotten used to hearing her voice every night before bed again. The night before leaving Kumo she told him how she found out that Kimumaru, her newest traveling companion, was an insanely light sleeper, like pin-drop light sleeper. So they were back to being silent and holding the warm pendent as they slept, wishing they could whisper how their day was to each other.

"_Sasuke-kun, are you awake?_" He nearly jumped out of his skin at the whisper and instead of looking around his room for the source, he grabbed hold of his pendent and gasped out a sleepy answer.

"I'm here,"

"_Did I wake you?_" Sakura asked whisper soft, "_I'm sorry_,"

"Don't be," Sasuke replied rubbing at his eye and sitting up in bed, "I was just thinking about how you were doing."

"_You were? That's sweet of you_," he hadn't actually been awake enough to be aware of what he was saying until Sakura's response, then he was wide awake and blushing at his mistake. "_We're__ resting in the land of hot springs right now_," Sakura whispered, "_everyone's soaking in the shared bathes because the inn keeper thought sensei was our guardian and mistook everyone's ages for being minors._ _Who I_ learned by the way, can't actually bath by themselves, there's too many chances for an accident occurring."

"_Well that makes sense_," Sasuke replied, "_they don't want you guys getting hurt_." Sakura smiled to herself, somehow she wasn't surprised he would see things through the innkeepers perspective. "_Hay, if everyone is in the pools then_..." His voice suddenly broke and she could imagine his face turning red, "_where are you?_"

"In an isolated pool," Sakura answered with a giggle, her teammate went silent and she could imagine his face glowing red

"What the hell?! Your a boy?!"

"Oh, sensei finally realized Haku's gender," Sakura said, looking off to the bamboo wall to the left of herself

"_I heard him, how loud did he scream?_"

"Well... I'm currently in a bathhouse a block down from sensei," Sakura answered, muffled snickering was Sasuke's only response. it was the only way she could talk to Sasuke without her travel companions knowing about it, she had actually faked getting them dinner so she could have an excuse to be at another pool house. Sakura giggled, turning her attention back to the pendent cupped in her hands, "how's everyone doing? Has anyone taken my place yet?"

"_No, Ino and Hinata threatened the principle to put your scores under an allias_," Sasuke answered, "_you still remain as number three_."

"I don't want to know what they did, do I?" Sakura asked, laughter sounding in her voice

"_I don't know, I'm curious_," Sasuke replied indifferently, earning another giggle from the pinkette

"What about Ami?" Sakura asked, suddenly serious, "who's our newest member to our classes?"

"_Ino took sixth place_," Sasuke answered her, "_Naruto __has__ seventh, Riko eighth and Umeko __is__ ninth_." There was something in the way he spoke that said he wasn't telling her the whole truth and that alone peeked her interest.

"I knew Ino would take sixth place, those two have been fighting over sixth place for years," Sakura replied calmly, "I'm glade to hear Naruto's scores have improved though, I was a little worried." Sasuke snickered on the other end, a short kind snort that was followed by shuffling as he tried to get comfortable again. "Sasuke-kun... You didn't tell me who the newest recruit is," silence was her only answer and she could imagine him stiffening or grinding his teeth in annoyance or maybe glaring off to the side in an attempt to distract her.

"_His name us Sai_," Sasuke answered her slowly, she could hear the tone of distrust and the sound of not quite contempt in his voice

"Is he so bad that you can't even speak about him without glaring at something?" Sakura asked curiously, a heavy, agitated sigh was her answer. The sigh was soon followed by a thump of him flopping against his bed and an uncharacteristic groan echoed through the pendent, if his reaction was an answer, then Sai was worst then she thought.

"_He said we lost you_," Sasuke explained, "_not just you but Ami too... And his first greet__ing__ to Naruto, trust me, you don't want to know the dube's newest nickname_."

"That bad huh," Sakura sighed, "I honestly can't imagine anything worst than the names you call him."

"_Trust me, even I wouldn't go where this idiot went_," Sasuke replied, "he's like this brutality honest orphan no one bothered to teach manners too."

"_He curses?_" Sakura asked in a tone that suggested the mere word was taboo, "well I can fix that when I get home."

"_I don't know Sakura, Iruka-sensei gave up on correcting him_," Sasuke warned

"No way, Iruka-sensei? He's the most stubborn person in the entire village," Sakura protested with wide surprised eyes, "I mean he used to chase _Naruto_ through the village for crying out loud." While Sakura was having her conversation with Sasuke in soft hushed tones, she was unaware of the watchful amber orbs, listening to her conversation silently. It seemed like an hour had passed as Sasuke listened to Sakura tell him about her newest companion, their argument over Iruka long since over, when suddenly there was a shout interrupting Sakura's giggling that was quickly followed by incoherent shouts that might've been curses.

"What was that? I didn't catch it," Sasuke asked Sakura, frowning as he heard her begin to move in the water

"_Just a drunkard, hold on and be quiet_," Sakura answered softly, Sasuke waited patiently, listening as the 'drunkard's' voice got clear for a moment and he heard several insults that might've been aimed at Sakura. Sakura hurried into the changing room, dried off and just as she clicked her protective braw in place the door to the bath house opened up and in peeked an embarrassed black haired teen.

"Um miss?" Sakura looked back at the woman as she grabbed her yukata and tugging it on as the woman spoke, "um, I'm very sorry about that, she's had a little too much sake..."

"Don't worry about it," Sakura replied with a smile, "she's not the first drunkard to curse at me."

"_I ain't drunk!_" The woman's voice from the spring shouted angrily

"Shut it Tsunade-hime, your making it worse!" the black haired teen snapped back, glaring at the woman beyond the door, never noticing Sakura's narrowed eyed look. By the time the young woman turned back to continue apologizing to Sakura, the pinkette was already at the door, her shoes in hand and pendent dangling from her neck. "Ah, Ms!"

"Have a nice night ma'am," Sakura turned and smiled back at her, "Tell Tsunade-hime we kunochi's still look up to her. Even if we think she's fallen below the level of dirt and grime." The black haired woman was too stunned to counter before Sakura was gone, leaving the stunned kunochi to deal with one suddenly furious blonde Sanin.

"Get back here you little runt!"

"_What did you do?_" Sasuke asked through the pendent, only hearing a scream followed by Sakura's laughter

"Oh nothing much," Sakura chuckled as she ran across the roof tops and flipped onto her hotel room balcony, "Just angered one hot-tempered Hime."

"…_I hope she's not our Hime because then I can't save you_,"

"You can't save me anyways," Sakura chuckled in amusement, unknown to her, a feeling of foreboding crawled up Sasuke's spine as if warning him of their future plans. Suddenly Sasuke could see Sakura laying on the ground, a pool of red growing around her, her pale skin turning translucent with the lack of blood in her body, her eyes dulling into lifeless jade. It was as if he was staring at his mother's body for the first time again except instead of his mother laying lifelessly before him it was Sakura, bloody and beaten, lifeless in every meaning of the word. He felt helpless once again, the feeling, the memory, making his hands tremble and his eyes turn red as if to dispel some form of genjutsu that wrapped itself around him but his crimson gaze revealed nothing but the gentle jade glow of the pendent in his hand. That was Sakura's chakra, her warmth and her light, how strange it was to find comfort in something so small and breakable, was it wrong of him to want to see her smile again?

"Sakura," Sasuke called softly in the dark of his room, "when are you going to come home?"

"_I don't know anymore_," she answered just as softly, sighing tiredly as she sat down on her bed, "there are times where it feels like I'm home and then I hear my self start to call out to one of you and then I'm reminded that I'm not home, I'm some place far away."

"_Its been seven months Sakura, how many more clans are there?_"

...

_"Tenzo-sensei how many clans are there in the east?"_

_"How many trees dose it take to make a forest?" He asked in return_

_"...How many clans are there across the map?"_

_"How many stars are there in the sky?"_

_She stopped walking, frowning thoughtfully at her feet_

_"Sensei... How am I supposed to collect so many people before the year ends?"_

_"Let rumors and the villages take care of the more common clans child," he smiled and patted her head affectionately, "worry only for those who've hidden away from the world for far too long. That is how you'll end this mission sooner then you expect."_

...

"I don't know that one either," she answered truthfully, never realizing that someone was outside her door, listening silently. "I only know that now I must travel through the smaller countries, the ones between the five great nations..." He could hear the frustration and disappointment in her voice, the sudden regret of leaving them for a nation worth of Roque clans, wondering aimlessly through the lands, searching for what hundreds before her could not find. "_Maybe my mission will end sooner than we expect_..." She whispered softly, sleepily, "_can I talk to you in the morning? I'm suddenly really tried_"

"Sure, night," Sasuke smiled to himself, knowing she would undoubtedly get distracted with her allies to actually talk to him

"_Night_," she whispered, then not realizing that she could still hear him, Sasuke whispered into the night.

"Come home soon Sakura, the village seems a little darker without you in it"

…

She glanced into the room she was to share with Sakura and saw that the pinkette had crawled into bed and was tugging her blankets over herself. She had listened in on the conversation, waiting for an opportunity to go to bed herself but didn't want to interrupt her friend. She and the boys had agreed that at night they would give Sakura the time she needed to talk to her pendent but lately it was getting difficult to give her that time. They also agreed to keep Mikio busy or districted for Sakura too, they averaged out about ten to twenty minuets each and figured that was enough time for the pinkette to have her time with the person on the other end of the pendent. None of them actually knew who it was but they knew the person typically put a smile on her face while she slept, so they thought it was a good person if they could turn her bad days into good ones.

"Ow, ow, ow, let go Michio!" She looked up to see the boys approaching; Michio had Kimimaru in a head lock and was dragging Haku down the hall by his ear. "I said sorry~!"

"Why didn't you say-" Michio started to speak angrily but was quickly interrupted by his other kunochi-in-training

"Hay you guys be quiet," Guren hissed, stepping away from the door and hurrying towards them, "she just went to sleep."

"Huh? Her conversation is over already?" Michio asked curiously, the three children stared in bewilderment at him, "what?"

"You knew?" Guren asked in disbelieve, she herself had only found out on the first day they had outside of the hidden cloud village

"About her communication pendent? Yeah I was there when she got it back at the border," Michio answered bluntly, technically he had been the one who had given it to her in the hospital so he knew the ins and outs of the small trinket; he just didn't feel like telling them about the finer details.

"Do you know who's on the other line?" Guren asked as Kimimaru slipped out of his hold and turned his full attention to the teen, "what's his relation to her? How do they know each other? Where is he now? Why isn't he with her? Hay are th-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down Guren, one question at a time," Michio advised, placing a silencing hand over her mouth, "I can't answer you if you keep talking like that." Lifting his hand away from her mouth and releasing Haku's ear with a look that said his punishment was far from over, Michio returned his attention back to an excited looking Guren.

"Well?" Guren prompted, "who is he?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," Michio sighed in answer, "he's number one in the Advanced Class of her year, in the mass graduation test he and one other became her teammates."

"What's he like?" Guren asked, "why isn't he here with her if he became her teammate?"

"Sakura was the only one who could perform the mission without doing something that would make the war even worse then it already is," Michio answered, "plus he is clan heir, it would be impossible to convince his elders to allow him out of the village for this mission, especially since he is one of ten others who have awakened their bloodline, not even the village elders would let him leave the village if they found out."

"So why send Sakura?" Haku asked curiously, "isn't she really strong? I mean she can take us all on at the same time and hardly ever gets a scratch. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to keep her in the village too?"

"It is because of that strength that lord Hokage allowed Sakura to leave the village," Michio answered, ruffling his hair, "Sakura is an overly powerful, extremely rare Kekkei Genkai carrying genius, _and_ a prodigy in her use of the three bloodlines she wields."

"She has _three_ bloodlines?" Guren gasped, she knew bloodlines were rare, even in her own family, but she's never heard of someone carrying more then one bloodline. She was taught that all bloodlines were stronger and weaker to their respective elemental parents, which means that if two bloodline users of equally strong abilities decided to have a child together, the one with the stronger element affiliation would prevail in the offspring. However if two bloodlines were equal in power, elemental dominance and gene dominance then it was possible for a child to be conceived carrying both bloodlines, the down side was that chakra exhaustion is usually the cause of death and they typically 'self destruct' with the power restrained in their bodies. That's why bloodline users were so obsessive with keeping their bloodlines 'clean', the wrong gene line up could make their clan go extinct or destroy their offspring.

"That's right," Michio answered, "more specifically she is a natural born user of water, wind and earth natures. Her ability to combine those natures to form the subcategories we call elemental bloodlines, is what makes her strong enough to qualify for this mission."

"So wait, she doesn't actually have the bloodlines themselves, she's just a genius in chakra control who happens to have an infinity for water, earth and wind natures?" Haku asked, as if that cleared up his condition on the matter

"Yes," Michio answered, as if he hadn't thought of it like that

"Then technically she does have a bloodline," Kimimaru said thoughtfully, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started

"How do you figure?" Michio asked curiously

"It's not elemental based at all or anything like that," Kimimaru answered simply, "her bloodline is simple: chakra control with an infinity for the elements. That's all. I bet her kid would have her chakra control but would hold the dad's bloodline."

"If he had a bloodline," Guren said, a wide smile growing on her face, "if she married someone who didn't have a bloodline, maybe her kid would take after her! That means she could end up starting a clan with their very own special bloodline!"

"Lower your voice brat," Michio hissed, "and don't go making plans for Sakura, if she finds out she'll deck ya!" provided her teammate's, friends and clan members didn't do it first

"_If_ she finds out," Guren smiled cheekily, "When we get to the hidden leaf, I'm boy shopping!" Michio groaned and slapped a hand to his face; of all the personalities a kunochi in training could develop, he just had to get the bubbly wedding planner.

"Uh Guren-chan… don't you think she's a little young to be getting married?" Haku asked softly

"Well duh but she's not too young to start dating," Guren smiled at him, "I mean she's like what? Eleven? Twelve? Those are perfect ages too—"

"She's nine," Michio drawled

"She's younger than me?!" Guren gasped loudly, she just thought that Sakura was abnormally short for her age

"How old are you?" Haku asked curiously

"Twelve," she answered, "you?"

"Seven," He answered cheekily

"I'm thirteen," Kimimaru answered, "At least, according to uncle."

"Great, hormonal teenagers and curious brats," Michio sighed, slumping slightly in depression, "did I draw the short stick in a past life?"

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Guren asked curiously

"I've yet to decide," he answered dryly, "Now come on, we've made enough noise out here, she's properly awake now." Guren huffed but headed for the room she was to share with Sakura, only to realize the boys were following her, she turned hard violets onto Michio.

"I can get Haku sleeping with us, everyone thinks he's a girl, but why are you two coming in?"

"The inn keeper took the other key from me," Michio answered, "this room has two beds in it so we're to share it, deal with it." Guren huffed and walked in, imminently climbing into the same bed as Sakura, leaving the three boys to fight over the other one. Amusingly enough, Haku started to head over to the same bed as Guren and Sakura but was stopped by Michio grabbing hold of his ear and growling low threats at him. Guren snickered at the pained tears in Haku's eyes but he complied and hurried to share the bed with the other two males, making Michio take the center space so he can 'keep an eye' on both of them. Guren's amusement only seemed to grow as Mickio slowly realized that Haku froze things in his sleep and Kimimaru had a tendency to make a little bone shield over himself while he slept.

Michio would later let Sakura and Guren sleep with Haku, just so he wouldn't have to deal with frost bite every morning

…

* * *

…

Kakuzu sat on a tree limb, his face propped up in one hand as he watched in complete boredom as his partner paced back and forth beneath him, striking anyone who dared to get too close or distract him for a moment. They found out that 'Rukia' (one of Hiden's many followers) had found, captured and hidden Hiden's daughter, also known as the cult's 'princess'. They were okay with it at first, content that the girl was found and that Deidara was with her (technically), meaning they could swop in and take the girl whenever they wanted too. But then they heard of her constant escape attempts, they weren't too worried about those because Deidara was apparently the only one who could bring her back; meaning the girl's taijutsu was worse than his, so she was properly pretty pathetic as a kunochi or she was a civilian and knew next to nothing of the ninja life. Either way they had been informed at a later point in time that Rukia was taking matters into her own hands and had begun teaching the 'Hime' everything (or virtually everything) she knew. Hiden didn't have a problem with that, he didn't even care that it was Rukia who found and captured his Hime before he could. What he was currently angry over was that the princess wasn't even getting her training done by a priest of their cult, she was getting it from (in his words) uneducated, resentful, B**ch that wasn't even given a ranking upon entrance of their cult.

"Kakuzu," he looked up in boredom as one red eyed Uchiha landed on the branch beside him, "Three months remain until the final red moon, is everything ready?"

"Why don't you ask princess down there?" Kakuzu asked, "he's in charge of everything right?" Itachi looked down, watched Hiden split a rock in half and turned dull crimson eyes back onto Kakuzu, "I'm not dealing with him right now, get someone else to ask him." Itachi rolled his eyes and sent a burst of chakra through his ring, apparently he for saw Hiden's reaction to the information that the princess was getting trained by someone else. Kakuzu turned just in time to see Hiden throw his scythe at Itachi and then ducked back words just in time to avoid the easy swipe the once clan heir did to block the attack-it was just his misfortune that the block sent the scythe straight for Kakuzu's head.

"It's ready B*CH!" Hiden screamed, "We need Hime now!" Itachi nodded and disappeared, "Pansy-B*CH!"

_My head hurts,_ Kakuzu sighed, pulling out his book and resumed reading it again, ignoring the split branch that had been split in half in place of his head

"What the F*** are you F*** doing Kakuzu?!"

"Reading up on the bloody moons," he answered calmly, flipping a page and ignoring the rant his partner started screaming at him

…

* * *

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

**Opinions are wonderful**

**Helpful criticism is lovely! Just don't cripple me okay?**

**Please no cursing!**

**And don't forget to rate and review!**

**Page 15**


	31. Chapter 31

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 31: ninth, tenth, eleventh months

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

She stood solemnly in the center of thirty slowly dying shinobi, on a normal day she would have no problem healing them, on a normal day she wouldn't be sweating and panting, on a normal day she wouldn't be trying to stand when her sight was tripling before her. But it wasn't a normal day, she has been trying to heal the shinobi of her village constantly for the past week, she had a fever, her sight was was worsening every second, and her knees were shaking like leafs in wind. She knew she was suffering from chakra exhaustion, knew that if she tried to so much as heal even a scratch she could fall into a coma for the next month or worse, end up in the ground before she could even teach her child everything she knew. She braced her hands on her knees, panting heavily, sweat pouring down her face as she tried to focus on her given task. She looked up at her village elder, he stared passively back at her, unconcerned that she might be getting weak, that something could be wrong with her. She understood, she was a tool to him, an object designed to save the lives of his men and that was all he cared for, she could heal them all until she keeled over in exhaustion and he wouldn't care. So long as she saved the lives of his men, he didn't care what happened to her. Her knees quaked and she collapsed to all fours, feeling the urge to hurl up her lunch and pass out but she couldn't, she swore to heal them, she promised.

"Mom!" She felt her heart nearly stop at the distressed cry, her eyes widening as she looked towards her only child, panic and fear filling her as she stared at the young nine year old with teary eyes. Her eyes snapped over to the village elder and horrified understanding filled her as she stared into those cold black eyes.

If she could not heal these men, he would force her only child to do it in her place

"Karen," she called, smiling bitterly at her child, "I love you."

"Mom! _No!_"

the woman screamed as she forced out every last ounce of her power, making the thirty wounded glow a bright teal green, saving them would save her child, it was the only way. Unknown to her, a shadow descended down on her and before she could complete her given task, the shadow knocked her out and pulled her into his arms protectively. Soon another shadow landed beside him, placing glowing green palms on the woman's chest and stomach; they were quickly joined by three other shadows, using the wounded shinobi laying on the ground like shields against the cruelty of the villagers surrounding them.

"What is the meaning of this?" The village elder asked coldly, stepping forward with cane in hand, "who are you?" The second smallest shadow but the first to appear beside the cloaked adult, turned towards him, lethal grace etched into their every step as they approached, an air of fury surrounding them with the beginnings of a tornado forming protectively around the young child. "Do not threaten me child," the old man barked, thumping his cane on the ground and cracking the bloody stained earth minutely, "answer me before I arrest you for interfering in—"

"You'll arrest me for interfering in your war crimes?" The child questioned, reaching up and pulling her hood back, revealing short bubbly pink hair, the red haired girl gasped loudly, her red eyes widening in surprise. The girl glared furiously at the elder, a snarl twisting her pretty heart shaped features. "I have come for our war captives! How dare you keep them from us!" To the young red haired girl, the very air seemed to tremble with the pinkette's anger, her very voice echoing inside people's heads like the memory of an angry goddess cursing them. Even the branches of the trees and bushes seemed to mumble and whisper, reminding the red head of an angered spirit ready to defend its land or die trying.

"These two are children of my village," the elder countered her carelessly, "you will not be taking them from me."

"The Uzumaki clan is allied to the hidden leaf village!" The girl barked at him, "we were at peace for six years and not once in those years did you dare to return our people! You have broken treaty article number A-3-5 under the release of captured shinobi during war time! All other hidden villages complied with this law! You have not! That is cause enough for my master to call upon the five nation treaty and wipe you off the map!"

"You dare to threaten me, you insolent child?" The old mn growled, releasing his hold of his chakra and killing intent, "I have lived through the past three great ninja wars, an insolent little welp like you has no chance against me!" Karen was like any other villager present, trembling fearfully under the pressure of their kage's aura, the blood drained out of her face and her knees threatened to collapse under her. It was the normal reaction when the full force of the elder's chakra was released, but for whatever reason the group of shinobi before them seemed unmoved with his seemingly endless stores of power. The young man didn't even flinch and the three other young children remained kneeling, unbothered by the weight of a mountain threatening to smother the life out of them, as if death itself could not touch them.

Such a frightening sight to those who've seen many battles and witnessed many deaths

"I am Sakura Haruno, apprentice to the Sandaime homage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and inheritor of Konoha!" She released her own signature, forcing the collapse of half of the shinobi present, the girl's power rivaled that of their Kage's and to everyone else they appeared to be equally matched but Karen knew better. She was a master sensor, she noticed the fine details of those under a genjutsu, those standing at deaths door step and even the shift of emotions in ones chakra signature. Karen collapsed to her knees, staring in abject terror at Sakura, lost in the over flowing waves of fury surrounding the pinkette like a barely restrained hurricane, battling against the seemingly unmovable aura of the mountain wall that was her village elder's chakra signature. Karen was so lost in the waves of fury surrounding the pinkette that she never noticed the glance the elder gave her or the subtitle shift in his aura that dictated his sudden feeling of unease. Had the young master chakra sensor been staring at him with such a look, he might've chosen to attack the girl and kill her, burry her and her friends somewhere no one could find them. But the eight year old was staring in sheer un-adulated terror at the girl, that was all he needed to know that despite his own massive aura, it was likely he would not win the fight should he chose to start one with the girl. With that in mind he relented and suppressed his aura, the pinkette's snarl didn't fade as she suppressed her aura, her glare increasing as she turned her attention to the white faced Jonin standing behind Karen, still holding the chain wrapped around her neck.

"They are not war captives," the elder spoke up calmly, "Uzumaki-san willingly joined our village and the girl was born here. They are my shinobi."

"You make it a habit to chain all of your shinobi around the neck or just your medics?" The man asked, his hood slipping back slightly so the afternoon sun could light up a lock of hair the shade of dried blood, "Sounds like a half assed lie to me old man."

"And who are you?" The elder questioned, the tiniest tilt of interest sounding in his voice

"My name is Mikio," the young man answered coldly, "I am responsible for Sakura-Hime's protection."

"I suppose the Hokage could only trust an Uzumaki with his heir's life, hmm?" The old man questioned, mockery laving his voice, the narrowed eyed look he received from the man and girl seemed to confirm what ever thought was in his head. "Very well then boy, let us strike a deal," there was something off with the offer, even Kimimaru who had next to no experience with dealing with humane adults, could tell there was something wrong with the old man and his sudden willingness to work with them was alarm. Guren gritted her teeth, she heard the old man's tone of voice more then once, even though she didn't feel as if she was backed into a corner like with her own elders, she still felt the sharp point of a knife pressing against her back. Mikio's eyes narrowed at the old man, sensing what he wanted in the same manner a rabbit sensed the presence of a wolf or cat nearby. Even little Haku, the youngest in the group and the one with the least experience with negotiations felt as if a snake was crawling up his back, wrapping itself around him as if trying to steal the last ounces of heat his naturally cold body did have.

"And what deal is that?" The teen questioned slowly, regarding the old man like a viper readying to strike, "me and the medics switching places? Want me to heal your men in their place?"

"They will be free from my village if you do this," the man replied with a wickedly calm smile, as if he won a bet and knew it, "heal my men and Uzumaki-san and her daughter can go to Konoha."

"Nii-san can't heal," Sakura frowned at him, speaking without thinking about it, "he doesn't know how, Kaa-san never taught him." That was the lie they decided on, that their mother taught Sakura how to he's and their father was teaching 'Mikio' how to fight with their bloodline limit. They said the lines so often, repeating the story sp many times that it became a national response in both of them to repeat what little information they dared to give.

"Hmm? Are you two half siblings?" The old man questioned, the surprise on their faces seemed answer enough. "Interesting," his eyes narrowed, a glint if triumph shinning in his dark eyes. "Will you take the deal in his place then girl?" The old man asked innocently, "I imagine that Hokage-sama wouldn't dream of neglecting your training in political manners and he certainty wouldn't think of not teaching you about article A-3-4-7 of the alliance treaty."

"Sa—" Michio started, panic in his eyes as realization dawned on him

"Deal," Sakura agreed, nit noticing her brother's attempt to protect her, "I heal your men and you free the Uzumaki's."

"Very well," he waved a hand at his still wounded men. Michio was forced to watch as Sakura carefully traveled from wounded to wounded, healing only those with life threatening injuries. There was no way he Sakura away, nit now, not while she felt responsibility for someone; she would fight him over leaving so many wounded. She was a bleeding heart, she would heal anyone and everyone if it meant saving someone's life, she didn't care about the consequences, she would save as many lives as she could.

"Damn you," Michio snarled angrily as realization hit him, the elder merely smirked at him, standing patiently as he watched Sakura kneel next to the closest one and set two hands over his chest wound, barely a second later it was gone. The old man was was as quick and vicious as a viper ready to strike, the old man was able to trick the Uzumaki woman and her child into remaining in his village.

The black hearted old man used their bleeding hearts against them

Now Sakura was another medic he stole away with false promises of freedom

…

* * *

…

Sasuke was both annoyed and slightly more cheerful then he usually was, he was cheerful (in his own way) because his nights had been filled with Sakura's voice, uninterrupted because of her current location. He was annoyed more than usual because of her situation. Half way through her ninth month, Sakura and her allies came across the hidden grass village, they interfered in a healing process that would've killed one of Naruto's aunts and spared the life of his cousin. In order to ensure the Uzumaki's freedom and safety from the village, Sakura stepped forward and took their place as the medic of the village, she tended to every single injured ninja that had been laying there bleeding to death. When the ten with life threatening injuries were healed, she stood and informed the man that the task was done and it was time for him to uphold his end of the deal. However he reminded her that she agreed to heal _all_ of his shinobi, not just those with life threatening injuries; if she wanted to free the Uzumakis she would have to heal everyone. She did so, easily, efficiently and quickly, then a new wave of wounded ninja came in and she realized the trap she walked straight into. His men weren't very well trained, they were attacked and disposed of so easily a drop out academy student could handle them without getting scratched; because of their poor training, they were getting hurt often and before she knew it she was swarmed with wounded. She always tended to those with life threatening injuries first, bickered with the village elder over the scrapes and scratches before being threatened into healing even those. The old man wouldn't let Sakura use bandages and ointments, her only tool for healing was chakra, anything else was a 'waste of supplies', there wasn't anything she could about it either because the villagers listened to him and refused to give her any ointment or tools or supplies of any kind.

Her only tool was chakra

If there was one thing Sasuke didn't like about his female teammate, it would be her bleeding heart

She had been in that village now for nearly two months, she was supposed to be returning soon to complete her training with Kakashi, recoup and take a skill test that would determine her rank if she were to graduate the academy that year. But the village elder was stubborn, he refused to hand over the younger Uzumaki and kept her chained in a cell underground; when her mother was well enough to return to healing herself, he only made her return to healing along side Sakura. The old man was keeping the girl as a hostage and constantly threatening her life when ever Sakura scoffed at scrapes and bruises, refusing to heal something their bodies can take care of in a day or two. Even her sensei and three companions had been chained with chakra suppressors and forced to help bring wounded in to Sakura, so she could heal them. They were stuck in the village, Sakura and the woman were both quickly running low on chakra again and if something didn't change soon, the woman was going to end up in the same position Sakura tried to save her from.

Except both of them would be in trouble

"_At least we only had to tend too three wounds today,_" Sakura's sleepy voice woke Sasuke from his thoughts and he sighed heavily, "_I think the villagers are trying—what's wrong?_" She cut herself and asked him quickly, having heard his heavy sigh through the pendent, Sasuke rubbed at his brow and answered her in a tight voice

"You need to get out of that village Sakura, you and that woman are gonna die at this rate,"

"_No we're not_," Sakura replied, rolling her eyes, "as I was trying to tell you, I think the villagers are keeping the minor stuff to thems—"

"_You didn't even talk to me last night Sakura,_" Sasuke's voice interrupted her, "_its not like you to say you will and then not do it. Your slipping and you know it. Stop trying to reassure me and take a look at your friends, then look at yourself, tell me are any of you looking good enough to go headlong into battle?_"

Sakura sighed, "Sasuke-kun—"

"_Don't start_," Sasuke ordered, "_your the only one not bound in chakra suppressants, use your power to escape, you know you can_."

"And what about my friends?" Sakura asked

"_I didn't say leave 'em there, your too stubborn for that, you'll figure out how to save them and the girl_," Sasuke replied, "_I know you can free your self, them, the girl and make that elder regret threatening you. You need only time to think and plan, which by the way, your running out of_."

"Thanks for the boost of confidence," Sakura said dryly

"_I'm not joking Sakura, there is exactly nineteen days until the start of February, its January 13th, you really are running out of time._" Sasuke stressed pointedly, Sakura suddenly felt dejected and stressed, she knew time was passing her by but she honestly didn't know the date, to hear that she had less then two months to find and rescue Ami made her feel as if someone was suddenly holding a blade to her neck.

"Alright," Sakura murmured, "I'll think of something..."

"_Not without sleep_," Sasuke said sounding defeated, as if he suddenly regretted telling her the date, "_get some rest, fringe a cold or something, I don't care, just regain your strength_."

"I will, don't worry," Sakura reassured

"_A little late for that_," Sasuke retorted, "_night_."

"Night," Sakura whispered, she waited until the crimson moon of the Uchiha crest stopped glowing before she let the pendent drop around her neck, silently noticing how it no longer sat between her breasts but dangled just under her collar bones. Taking in a deep steadying breath, Sakura crawled through the dark and took a good look at the red haired woman, then looked at Guren and Haku, curled together like a pair of scared twins, Kimimaru has resorted to sleeping in the corner, pretending that the small closet door could protect him from the evil in the world while he slept. Even Mikio was sitting against the far wall, his location protective in every meaning of the word, no one could get to them without passing him and no one could sneak in without him seeing them. Sakura studied his sleeping face before coating her feet with chakra and silently climbing out the nearest window, quietly making her way to the nearby hill top with a graceful willow tree atop it. The little shack they were in belonged to the woman, it gave her a perfect view of the village and anyone going up the hill would be seen in a manner of seconds, couple that with her sensory skill and literally no one could sneak up on her. Sakura tightened her hold on the little pink shawl given too her by one of the villagers for saving her husband, it was a little cool and the shawl seemed to do little to protect her from the wind. Sakura turned her eyes to the twinkling stars over head, watching them wink at her as if whispering a secret, and closed her eyes as the wind wrapped around her, warming the cold that snuck into her bones.

"Kai-nii," Sakura whispered into the wind, "I need your help. We've been captured by kusa and they refuse to release us, please inform Hokage-sama and send aid, I don't know how much longer Uzumaki-hime and her daughter can keep healing everyone." She untucked her shawl from her shoulders and let the wind carry it away with her last whisper.

"Please nii-san save us"

…

* * *

…

It was a bright and warm, a-typical day in Konoha, people were gossiping, children were playing, the advanced class students were sparing in a field next to the kage tower. None of them were even close to aware of the little pink shawl dancing on the wind, dipping and twirling, rising and spinning, searching for the one its master called 'Nii-san', growing tiered on the cool wind of the north seeking rest for its too long journey away from its original path. The little scarf and bored little wind had been traveling together all night and most of the day, seeking the one person its master sent them too. Eventually the scarf and little wind found the one called 'nii-san', he was battling in front of many strong ninja, as if participating in a fight that was over seen by even the great Kage of the hidden village.

The little wind and small shawl spun in joy and relief, dipping down to the ground, surfing on the currents, eager to deliver their message

He had been in the middle of a spare when he noticed something strange in the air, he separated from his partner and retreated to a safe distance, he was crouched low, ready to attack when something pink fluttered into his vision. He grabbed it reflexively and stood to his full height, letting the wind swirl around him and deliver the whisper soft plea it carried, his partner refused to move an inch, recognizing the danger in doing so; never was it wise to attack a distracted Haruno. The wind died away but it did nothing to the dark air surrounding him, those sitting on the side lines crouched against the ground and steadily began retreating painfully slow, knowing that whatever was happening now was cause enough to retreat. Before the teacher could even question Kai for the sudden change in aura, an explosion of power erupted around him, revealing his face to be carved in pure demonic fury, even his pupils changed from round to slitted and his normally sky blue eyes changed to demonic gold, giving him the appearance of cats eyes.

"Mission accepted," Kai hissed low enough that no one could hear him, "objective: Find Sakura Haruno, _NOW_." Maito Gai grunted as he felt a burst of power increased in Kai's already impressive levels of released Chakra, soon though, others from his clan had heard his order and they too began the search, relying heavily on their released kekkei genkai. Like Kai, they each surrounded themselves in a protective rotating current of pure power, their pupils shifting to accommodate the fury echoing through them that spurred them into searching for one lost clan member. Hiruzen turned to look out at the sky of his village and could only see dozens of emerald and jade pillar lights signature to the release if a Haruno's bloodline, specifically the activation of their chakra search and identification technique; a tracking jutsu unique to the Haruno's alone. He was just lucky to be watching the seventh years spar class when Kai started the search process, demanding his relatives to do the same.

"Lord Hokage! Perhaps you should get to a safer location!" One of his agents shouted over the roar of released power, fine tremors rolled through his cloaked form, as if he's never felt pure power bloom right in front of him before.

"Don't be foolish," Hiruzen replied calmly as he walked towards the the power encased eleven year old, "there is no threat here."

"Lord Hokage," Gai grunted, fighting to not collapse on one knee from the weight of the power, "do you know what this is?"

"The Haruno clan specializes in manipulating the natural chakra flow of the earth, in other words they're natural born sages," Hiruzen answered, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the pale pink shawl clenched in Kai's white knuckle grip, "they say that once you betray a Haruno, there is no where you can hide that they can't find you."

"Is that what they're doing now sir?" Gai asked, "is Kai-kun looking for someone?"

"The most powerful of the Haruno clan are all working together to find someone," Hiruzen answered, glancing briefly at the other pillars of light emerging from various places around his village, "Kai is merely the receptacle of all information retaining to their target."

"Who is their target sir?" His agent questioned

"I don't know," he lied easily

…

She stopped walking and looked towards the flicker power she felt growing in the distance, making the rising sun appear even brighter and warmer to her feverish features. Her allies each stopped, turning to look at the sunrise with her, only the red haired woman seemed to have an inkling of an idea of what she was looking at.

"Is there something wrong hime?" Her guard asked sarcastically, to him she was nothing more than a slave, to be called 'hime' was a joke to him

"Nothing," she answered, a smirk gracing her features as she returned to walking down the tall hill towards the sleepy little village far below, "nothing at all." Her answer made the blood drain out of her big 'brother's' face, realization dawning on him like a shooting star crashing into the earth. the other three children and their guard seemed oblivious to the silent transaction between the girl and rising sun, even the red haired woman hurried forward but didn't dare to wonder too far from the small pinkette smirking to herself.

…

"Target found," Kai murmured, The power around him dissipated, leaving behind swirled grass and the creaking noise of twisting branches, making the air fill with noise that could only be described as mother earth's anger growling for release. "Mission objective: Retrieval of target, commencing operation in three... two... on—"

"Wait Kai-kun," Hiruzen called, interrupting the order from the preteen, "the one you are seeking… is she one of your own?" Kai turned and looked at him, his blue eyes had changed to demonic golden cat-eyes, a warning to most shinobi to get the hell out of his way but Hiruzen wasn't most shinobi, he was a father and grandfather, he knew the look an overprotective parent gave when their kid was in danger; and that was the perfect description of Kai in regards to one little pink haired girl. "May I accompany you on this travel?" Hiruzen asked with narrowed eyes, the boy's silence answer enough to his previous question. Now this one required a verbal response, or else Anbu were going to be having a nice long talk with the young little heir.

"This is a clan problem," Kai answered, his voice tilting lowly as if someone else was speaking through him

"I wont stop nor hold you back from your mission," Hiruzen replied, voice dripping with ice, making sure the preteen understood that there was no room for argument, "but she is my kunochi and if your this worked up then someone is ignoring the political power I gave her, which means I need to pay them a visit." Kai stared dully at him, as if weighing the pros and cons of the consequences regarding his reaction, eventually though he nodded courtly and held out one hand, as if offering Hiruzen an invisible apple sitting in the palm in his hand.

"But Hokage-sama—!" The agent protested, however Hiruzen had already taken Kai's hand and they were gone in less than the blink of an eye, disappearing in every sense he was taught to use. "I have to warn the council," the Agent murmured, slightly panicked, only to freeze as several sounds of hoarse coughing and someone throwing up reached him. He turned and discovered that the rows of years five through eight of 'advanced class students' were all keeled over, some past out, some hurling, some trembling, some looking as if they met death for the first time, but the theme was the same with all of them.

None of them were prepared for the massive release of chakra power

"I... I didn't know," the agent turned to look down at the familiar brown haired first seat of year seven, Hama Nohara, and found himself alarmed at the sight of the boy's ghostly pale face. "I didn't know… since when… when was he so… wh-why hasn't he… when… when did he… Kai, he's never been… why-how… Kai… he-he…" it was strange seeing the passive little genius so shaken, there were times were not even Anbu agents could get the drop on the boy and yet here he was, shaken to the very core, trembling uncontrollably. "Kill," Hama whispered, nearly whimpering the word out, drawing the agent's attention again, "He plans to kill…"

"Who?" the agent asked, kneeling and touching the boy's shoulder, "who is he going to kill?"

"Everyone... anyone who gets in his way," Hama answered, turning frightened chocolate eyes towards him, "I don't who would hurt a Haruno but they're about to regret being born."

"What do you mean?" The agent questioned, a feeling of dread settling in his stomach like a led ball that was slowly seeping into his bones, weighing his limbs down

"They're hunting," another voice whimpered and the agent looked at the white haired, trembling graduate, number one of eighth year, Nia Tsunaki, the Genin-student to the village council member Koharu Utatane. "Together, the strongest five of the clan, they're hunting..." she was suddenly hurling, unable to keep her lunch down any longer

"The demons are hunting..." Hama whispered in agreement, the only words the agent could hear as he disappeared to deliver the news to the council

…

They hadn't even gotten out of the village before a man appeared out of no where, pulling Hiruzen over his back like he weighed nothing, even in his Kage robes.

"Your slow old man," the man under him complained like a cocky child, "we're in a rush so hold on!" Hiruzen barely had the time to tighten his hold before their speed increased three fold, forcing the old man to cower behind the man's dark pink hair and squint over his shoulder to see the three other forms sprinting beside them.

"Go home boy!" The man ordered suddenly, "you're too young for this!"

"Your too old Kizashi-sama," Kai snarled, Hiruzen suddenly felt as if he just walked into his to house, only to find his wife standing threatening before him with a wooden spoon in hand and a glare twisting her face.

"Cocky brat," Kizashi cackled, "oh yeah, don't fret Hokage-sama, I've known about Sakura-Chan since the attack, I figured you would send her out for training."

"Dose your wife know?" Hiruzen asked, feeling like his own is readying her best cooking utensil for impact with his head

"If she does, she hasn't said anything," Kizashi answered just as they dived over the village walls, looking like graceful panthers to the stunned guards who had yet to decide if they were hallucinating or not

…

He arrived in the meeting place a little late, but considering it was an emergency meeting that was quite literally spur of the moment, it would be expected that he would arrive later then everyone else. That said, he was not happy, no one was doing anything about the release of multiple demon leveled chakra signatures that appeared and disappeared just a minuet apart; the Chunin and Jonin were in an uproar, but Anbu wasn't doing anything about it.

"What is the meaning of this?" He barked out, not even opening the door all the way before gripping at the nearest person to the door, only to find himself staring into a pair of angry sea-blue orbs.

"Ugly old man!" The little girl barked right back at him, he was very close to thumping the girl with his cane but was momentarily distracted with were the little girl was. Sitting at the round table in the meeting room like a noble woman with her child in her lap was the matriarch of the Haruno family, Kikyo Haruno; the mother of the prodigy child, Kai Haruno.

"Danzo, no cause for alarm," Koharu greeted him evenly, "Haruno-sama was just telling us what is going on." Danzo gave her a blank look before hobbling over to the seat beside Homura and sitting down stiffly. The little girl sniffed at him and weaved her hands through hand signs too fast for him to catch the entire sequence of, only his stolen right eye was capable of catching the last three signs but he didn't recognize them from the 12 hand signs taught in the academy. Before he could question Kikyo, the little girl threw her hands out at the table and the surface began shivering, five little sprouts soon started up around the table, evenly spaced and a little vine growing from each sprout to connect with its neighbor. Just seconds after the last vine attached to its neighbor vine, the table inside of the circle of vines shimmered and a slow hazy image appeared on the surface. Just as the image became clear, the flower buds opened and inside were two curled up forms of identical twins, there being only one difference between them; their ears. The twin facing the inside of the circle had lengthened ears that were lightly pointed at the ends, giving them elfish appearances, contradicting their perfectly human counter parts who faced the outside of the flower.

"_About time Kikyo-sama!_" a voice from the image shouted delightfully, "_now let's go get our princess!_" There were shouts of agreement and the little twins inside each flower bud separated, the elfish counterpart rising to their full heights and standing on the very edge of the disk florets of every flower, the human looking twin remained curled up with eyes closed as if in sleep.

"What is this?" Danzo questioned evenly

"This is the soul bind seal," Kikyo answered calmly, "only the children of our clan can perform this jutsu because only they remain untouched by darkness. Once their soul becomes two, they are considered an adult of the clan and can no longer contain the humanity of our clan's men."

"Contain their humanity?" Danzo questioned

"There are pros and cons to every jutsu and consequences for every bloodline," Kikyo explained patiently, "As natural born sages, humans who control mother earth's natural chakra networks, we are often swept up in the currents of her power and sometimes we lose our way. To prevent ourselves from being swept away every time we manipulate the natural chakra currents around us, we Haruno's developed a kind of second personality or second soul within ourselves."

"Like a kind of guardian spirit?" Homura questioned

"If that is how you wish to see them, then yes, that is a good analogy," Kikyo consented calmly, "However remember that in order for the human body to retain two souls, neither soul can be the same as the other. There must be differences and that is exactly what the other soul is, a reflection or opposite image of our soul's true form. In other words, they are everything we are not. We Haruno's call these second souls 'demons' and it is our responsibility to keep our demons in check, for they are powerful and without our humanity, bloodshed could stain the world."

"That sounds like a very dark and bloody secret Kikyo-hime," Homura said slowly, "why have you not said this sooner?"

"I have, too Hokage-sama," she answered evenly, "he agreed with Niidaime-sama, our clan should remain in the south. After all, too kill a demon, one needs to use a demon."

"I don't understand," Kohaku murmured

"In the southern lands, there is a region called 'Hell's Haven', supposedly everyone in that region is demonic in appearance, power and fighting skill," Danzo clarified, "it's also called the 'Eternal Spring', because all the flowering trees there remain in bloom year round. Isn't that right, bloody Kikyo?"

"I'm not sure to be impressed or insulted with how much you know," the woman replied evenly, her perfectly sky blue eyes flashing demonic gold before returning back to blue.

"Please explain yourself," Homura ordered a tone of voice that sounded more like a mother scolding her children then a village elder giving an order

"_You know the story of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki-hime right Hokage-sama?_" they looked down at the table automatically, upon its surface was a familiar looking pink haired man carrying a familiar old man on his back. it took them only a moment to realize that the Haruno's on the other side of the circular image could hear them, reminding the three council's just how truly strong a Haruno really was when forced to show their hand.

"Ah, Kizashi-niin has decided to return to us," Kikyo drawled, as if she didn't care, "Yes they can hear us, Sandaime-sama can't though." Koharu's mouth snapped shut and Homura coughed into his hand to hide his smirk.

"_Yes,_" Hiruzen answered, "_what about her?_"

"_In__ the beginning of time, Kami created two genderless humans but discovered __their bottomless hatred of each other, creating an endless day of__destruction.__Kami__ tried to create __human's__ unable to harm other living creatures but they didn't last long with the __fighting between the first two humans._" Kizashi began, seemingly not hearing the question, "_So Kami created three trees and told __the two humans__ to choose to eat the fruit of one of the trees, one was the tree of knowledge, one the tree of immortality and the last one was __the __tree of power—his power. Kami warned them that each fruit may give humans their respective powers but to remember that each fruit has a price that must be paid. The tree of knowledge would __cost__ immortality; the tree of immortality would __cost__ knowledge. So the first human stepped forward and chose the tree of knowledge, hoping that it would give him what he wanted; to know how Kami came to be and how to be like him. __The__ second human watched as the first human walked away, __slowly becoming consumed by the poison inside the fruit he chose, his__ skin flacking off to reveal the ugly black mass slowly growing inside of him. Kami turned to the second human and asked him which tree he would eat from, but he could not chose, the tree of knowledge seemed to be priced too high and the tree of immortality seemed to lead to a worthless existence, 'what is the point of living for ever if one can never learn from one's mistakes?' The human asked Kami and Kami smiled, for the second human was not as lost as he first believed. So Kami set the trees of Knowledge and Immortality a flame and watched as those flames were reflected back in that small human's eyes, he turned away__ from__ the human and told him that he still had the __choice__, to eat from the tree of power or to turn away from it and walk to the other side of the still growing earth; w__here he would be safe from the destruction of his fellow human.__ The human was lost and was unsure of what to do, if he ate from the tree of power he could end up like his brother and be as lost and hopeless, but if he was careless his brother could return and try to take the fruit of the tree of power in the hopes that it would give him immortality__ or the power to become immortal. He feared being like the first human and he feared what that human would do if he retained the fruit of power. So instead of eating the fruit of the tree, he asked the tree to give him the strength to protect it from his brother, for that was the only strength he would ever need. The second human did not eat the fruit of the third tree and chose instead to drink the water gathered upon its nearest leaf._"

"...He did not answer Hiruzen," Homura said slowly, as if she was unsure of how to respond to the new knowledge

"And so the Haruno clan was born," Kikyo said slowly, "your goddess of the moon was once very much human. She learned of our tribe and chose to steal the heart of one young man, manipulating him into taking her to the tree of power where she took a fruit and ate it whole. She betrayed the tribe, she betrayed us all, and there was nothing we could do to stop her, even her eldest son died sealing her away into the moon. There was nothing left for my people to protect, to fight, to survive for. They were unable to punish Kaguya with their own hands so they turned to her youngest and favorite son, to punish her they took the tree of power and sealed it inside of him, as a reminder of his mother's crimes, but the seal did not work as planned and the tree of power became divided, forming what you now call the nine great demons."

"...It sounds as if you've rewritten history to suit your own needs," Danzo said slowly, as if daring her to contradict him. "Everyone knows the legend of Kagura and the great Jubi tree, that story is not what we have been told for hundreds of years."

"Just as you have neglected to inform Hokage-sama of the numberless orphans you are raising?" Kikyo questioned, "You are a fine example of twisting laws to benefit yourself. If you want a better example of twisting the history books, you can go a head and read any history book containing the _vague_ details of the Youndaime Hokage _killing_ the most powerful demon in existence." The mockery was not lost on the three elders, nor was her intelligence and impressive security level. The three elders all shared looks, frowning in concern but still curious about the semantics of the Haruno family and, of course, how much they truly knew. Before any of the councilor's had a chance to speak the questions on their minds, a terrified, blood chilling, scream echoed off the circle on the table, quickly followed by sadistic laughter.

"Kimi," Kikyo hissed, a flash of panic appearing and disappearing in her sky blue eyes

"Got 'im," the little girl murmured, a bit of wind kicked up around her, lifting her forelocks for a moment before settling down again. In the little scene provided to them by the circle, they could see a young man drenched in bright bloody red, three torn apart bodies dangling from a wall of tangled vines looking like gnarled limbless baby trees. Kizashi landed in the little circle, two others landed around him, taking protective stances around their old Kage. The young man turned towards him, his sky blue eyes flickering back and forth in blinding golden cats eye, his tan features paling in fear with every second that ticked by.

"...You've relied too much for to long on your demon, young one," Kizashi murmured, the young man hick-upped and collapsed to his knees, hiding his face in his clawed hands, crying in despair. "There is a reason we awaken our demons only when a life hangs in the balance and even then we must be sure that our own power is not enough to save them. _Why have you melded with your demon?_" The council stared curiously at the image, watching the scene unfold before them like it was an entertaining movie; Kikyo however sighed heavily and stroked little Kimi's long pink bangs out of her eyes.

"_I didn't mean to,_" the young man murmured brokenly, "_I only wanted to save Hime_."

"_Kai-kun, please take Hokage-sama and Aiko-Chan to my daughter_," Kizashi ordered solemnly, "_I will take_ _care of Harushi-kun._"

"_Understood sir,_" Kai said, easily turning to kneel on the ground, the council members all watched as Hiruzen turned from Kai to Aiko and climbed onto the much older teen's back.

"Poor Harushi," Kikyo murmured with eyes that almost looked sad

"What dose he mean by 'meld with his demon'?" Homura asked curiously

"Melding for us means becoming more demon then human," Kikyo explained, "its giving up our humanity to become forever lost in the currents of the earth, such power can not be controlled by humans and their minds can be broken all to easily. To protect our people and the potential loss of innocents, we've deemed that melding with our demons is an offense punishable by death." The scene shifted to watch Aiko and Kai move blindingly fast through the dark forest, almost appearing to merge with the shadows themselves as they ran at impossible speeds.

…

* * *

…

Guren panted beside Haku, struggling under the heavy weight of a solider too old to be in field, nearby was Mikio hovering over Sakura like nervous mother hen. The Uzumaki woman they found in the village was bracing herself on her knees, panting heavily as if she ran from Suna to Konoha without rest. Sakura herself almost appeared to be chipper, even surrounded by dozens of wounded, groaning, irritable shinobi who have yet to learn to keep even scratches to themselves. Guren knew that the old village elder was just waiting for a chance to strike Haku and herself down, he would have to wait until Kimimaru was resting to do anything with him, that boy kept up his bone cast around himself as if afraid to be stabbed in the back even by a small child. No one knew how he did it, the bracelets and anklets were supposed to prevent the use if chakra, keeping it forcefully suppressed and yet, Kimimaru managed to build up a layer of bone around his more vital areas of his body, nearly hiding face perfectly behind plates of bone that wrapped around him in lose moveable layers that would make it difficult for any blade to near his skin. In fact his layers of bone gave him an appearance that seemed to belong to a half human half betel creature that couldn't even hurt itself if it tried, it was as if he feared being hurt even by the giggly little ball of sunshine that he was currently carrying towards the section of wounded that was designed for none-threatening injuries. The old village elder, and commander of the village in question, continued to stare at Sakura through ancient narrowed eyes nearly perfectly hidden behind sweeps of perfectly white eyebrow hair. The old man seemed to have plans on how to kill each of them, his only desire was to keep the 'Uzumakis' in his village as healers, he even refused to let them teach others of his village know how to heal. It was as if he desired to be recognized as the only village known to have Uzumaki healers but what he didn't know was that Sakura and Mikio weren't Uzumakis, no one knew their last name and Guren often wondered if the two 'siblings' even had surnames or if they were even related by blood at all. There were moments where Sakura would forget to call Mikio 'Nii-san' and she would call him 'sensei' instead, as if that was the habit she acquired before even Haku became a part of their travels. Guren had also noticed the strangely large birds that found them every few weeks, and the scrolls those large hawk like creature's carried. She also noticed that after those birds arrived, they would all settle down at an Inn were Mikio and Sakura would then share a common room and left Guren to deal with the two broody boys who then started pouting because they weren't all in the same room.

"Guren-chan, is there something wrong?" Guren jumped at the soft voice of one of the elder women of the village, Guren adjusted her chained hands on the knocked out shinobi she still held up with Haku panting heavily beside her.

"Nothing we can't handle," Guren tried to smile reassuringly at the woman

"But… you're as white as a ghost," the woman murmured, patting at the purple haired girl's face with a damp cloth

"That's what happens when you're forced to do manual labor for once," Guren pouted having to put up with the woman's constant attempts to keep her face clean, "and having our chakra sealed away is beginning to put a real strain on us."

"Chakra?" the woman asked curiously, moving over to repeat her cleaning attempts with Haku, who sighed and nearly melted under the touch of the cool cloth, "that is something Shinobi use."

"We are learning to become Shinobi," Guren informed her, "Shinobi can't typically live without the use of their chakra. Just suppressing it for an hour knocks out most genin and Jonin—some of the strongest shinobi to live—can hardly suppress their chakra signatures for more than three or four hours at a time, the strain is too much for most ninja to survive under."

"Yet you and your friends have your chakra signature's completely sealed off yes?" the woman asked, sorrow and regret echoing in her soft brown eyes as she slowly began to connect the dots

"Not all of our chakra is sealed away," Haku corrected tiredly, "Just enough of it is free to keep us conscious… though I doubt any of us will remain so for much longer…"

"Easy Haku, don't you dare feint on me now," Guren said, tugging more of the ninja's weight onto her back, trying to relief the strain on the younger boy. The woman stepped away and watched as the two children struggled to walk away with the barn sized man braced on their backs, she never turned to the man who approached her, spear in hand and frown on his old scared face.

"What is it now woman?" the man asked her gruffly, "are you fretting over them again?"

"I'm your wife idiot," The woman drawled carelessly, slapping him with the wet towel, "Start being nice or I'll get a divorce." They've been together too long and been through too much for there to be any bite in her words, so as the man watched the two young chained children struggle with the full weight of a man, he slowly began to understand her sharper then usual tongue.

"You're unusually rude today," he commented lowly, "Is it that Guren girl again? She's not Aiyame—"

"Our daughter is dead, I am well aware of this," she snapped, turning on her heal and walking away, "No need to remind an old woman of her own scares." The man sighed, slumping with the weight of the memory, the screams of agony and sea of blood that once drenched his village nearly bringing him to his knees. Still he followed the young children forward, their trembling legs wont be able to support the extra weight of the man they were trying to carry together for much longer, any moment now they were going to-

"Gyaa!" As he predicted, the young boy Haku collapsed first, his dark eyes closed as he fell unconscious, his exhaustion finally taking hold of him. "Damn it Haku!" Guren cried in distress, "couldn't you wait three more steps before you feinted?!"

"Guren! Haku!" Sakura shouted, jumping to her feet and started hurrying over, Mikio was quick to follow her. The middle aged man's eyes widened as he looked right past the young man and straight to his village elder, the much older male was forming a single hand sign, he tried to hurry forward with a cry echoing off his old chapped lips but it was hopeless.

"No wait!" His cry was too late, electricity surrounded the chained children, even the Uzumaki woman cried out in pain, their bodies were completely encased in pure golden sparks of lightening. The massive voltage faded into little sparks, the two siblings collapsed to their knees, Guren passed out from the voltage beside Haku who appeared to remain asleep through the voltage. Little Sakura coughed weakly, collapsing onto her side, convulsing and gasping with the sparks still ravaging her body that were being transmitted from her collar.

"Sakura-hime!" Mikio cried, blood dripping down his chin from his spit lip, the blood haired woman scrambled to her shaking legs and tried to hurry over to the young pinkette but her knees gave out and she collapsed, forcing her to crawl against the dirty, bloody ground of the village center. Mikio gritted his teeth and turned towards the elder, still kneeling in the dirt he glared furiously at the old man, as if he was ready to attack.

"Return to your job young man," the elder ordered, placing a kunai to the kneeling child beside him. Mikio jerked at the sight of Kimimaru and his revealed face, what few bones still on him where black and crumbling off him, as if the electricity sparking off his wrists were still coursing through the thick bone that was once a protective shield. Kimimaru was a dull eyed, passive faced little boy that looked half his age because of the malnutrition his father forced on him, however at that current moment that typically stony face was contorted into fear as thick, fat tears spilled from his watery teal eyes, still black-ringed from lack of sleep.

"Hurry up," the old man ordered, jostling the kunai carelessly close to the boy's throat, "finish healing my men."

"Your a monster," Mikio snarled, "despite the terror and hell his father inflicted on him, Kimimaru never once cried in the entirety of his life! How dare you make him do so now!"

"Slaves do not bite the hand that feeds them, least that hand strikes them down," the old man said, pressing the kunai against the boy's throat, drawing a thin line of blood, "get to work before I get rid of this one."

"M-Mon... Mons~ster," Mikio turned with wide eyes, watching an electricity encased Sakura struggle to push herself up, "how... How dare you..." The old man frowned at her, he formed two one-handed hand signs and smirked as Sakura was forced to scream as a new more powerful wave of electricity coursed through her body, emanating from her steal choker.

"S-Sakura," Guren wheezed breathlessly, her violet eyes hazy as she tried to remain awake, never noticing the old couple struggling to pull her and Haku out from under the dying man. The old man only stopped his attack on Sakura when one of the village children raced forward and yanked on his hand, disrupting his focus and freeing Sakura from the powerful attack on her throat. At the same time one of the older women jumped forward and pulled Kimimaru away from the kunai that would've slit his throat wide open, pulling the boy away she turned her back against the elder and huddled protectively over the white haired boy.

"Let go of me this instant!" The elder ordered, "release me now Kohaku!"

"No!" The young boy wailed, "Jiji! Please stop this! We don't need them any more! Plenty of us know how to heal now! Please release them! Let them go!"

"How dare you disobey me boy," the old man snarled, "shinobi fight, slaves heal! Do you want that worthless existence?!"

"I'd rather be a ninja that saves lives then one that takes lives!" Kohaku wailed at him

"Insolent little wretch," the elder snarled, yanking and tossing his arm to throw the boy off him, Kohaku hollered as he was sent flying, crashing harshly on the dirt path of the village center. "How dare you steal the youngest of my village," the old man snarled, glaring at Sakura where she slumped in the center of his wounded shinobi, panting heavily with her head bowed, "now pay you worthless whore!"

"No!" The Uzumaki woman screamed, panicked tears flying out of her blood colored eyes, she was still to far away to heal the young pinkette, even her arms were trembling in protest as she tried to force her body to move against its 's eyes widened in terror, some moving as if to stop their elder, others covering the eyes of their young, some wrapping their hands around their mouths to stifle the screams ready to echo out of their throats.

Time stopped for a moment

Then the roar of an enraged demon echoed through the air, shattering their bones, stilling their hearts and threatening to rip their very souls apart

Then and only then did time start up again

"What was that?" The elder asked, looking around himself as his wrinkled encased face paled, his dark eyes slowly peaking out of the layers of hair that typically hid them from sight. around him his villagers collapsed, shaking like leaves, trembling and pale like cloth dolls thrown into a storm.

"Your late," Sakura murmured, her whisper soft voice echoing in the silence around her, "Nii-sama." The elder turned to look at her in surprise, a feeling of immeasurable fear filling every cell of his being, his body shaking and trembling as if his very soul was being ripped away from him. His people were frozen with fear, the sounds of branches twisting together hauntingly, sounding like the angry whispers of ghosts, silent threats heard only by ones soul.

"The very forest is angry with us," one of the young women murmured, clenching the hand of her white faced, sickly lover. The young man was one of many laying on the ground, waiting to be healed by one of the two exhausted medics of the village.

"No," the man murmured, "not us..." He looked up through his messy dark bangs, staring up at his on guard elder, who was looking around himself wildly. "M-Master..." The young man called weakly, "Release them... Please master..." The old man stiffened and looked down at him calculatedly, the young man panted heavily, sweat was beading on his skin, his face flush with fever.

"Rest child," the elder ordered, "your delirious from sickness, you don't know what you're saying." No one in the village was prepared for the earth beneath them to explode into millions of growing Bamboo shoots, covering every inch of the ground and lifting every living human being into the air, wrapping around them like snakes and vines constricting and tangling faster than anyone could blink or shout. The only ones left alone from the sudden assault were the wounded and the children on the ground, at the very edge of the circle of wounded were three dark figures, two kneeling beside a taller oddly shaped one. The tall shadow stepped out into the streaming sunlight of the circle of wounded ninja and revealed himself to be the white robed Sandaime Hokage of the hidden leaf, the villagers around him all gasped and murmured, their panic growing as the two kneeling shadows on either side of him slowly moved forward, as if preparing to pounce like panthers on pray, revealing familiar pink hair and blood red clothing. The kunochi to Hiruzen's right was dressed in a bright bloody quipao edged in elegant white, the pristine white circle crest of her clan sat proudly on her back and skirt. Her waist long pink hair was swept up into a high braided ponytail; her long bangs were braided and tucked into little loops before being tugged into her ponytail, even her ears were adorned in elegant looping silver strings that highlighted her pointed ears and elfish features. Even her head band denoting her affiliation to the hidden leaf was placed on a white cloth wrapped snuggly around her neck like a necklace. The young man kneeling to the Hokage's left was dressed in a bright crimson quipao top edged in the white circles of his clan with dark navy slacks and black fingerless gloves with the same white crest on the backs of his hands with a little silver leaf inside the circles.

"Spring style: Strangle dangle," the kunochi to Hiruzen's right drawled carelessly, "your not going to kill the little wretches Ototo?" The villagers gasped, panic filling them as they were left dangling in the air by the tightly compacted thumb-thick bamboo shoots, they just got their wounded back and now they were going to lose them again to the hidden leaf.

"Don't be stupid," the boy replied, "there's no benefit in killing the defenseless." The kunochi hummed, a thoughtful smile on her face as she turned thoughtful golden glowing eyes towards the nearest wounded ninja.

"Sakura Haruno," Hiruzen drawled, silencing the murmuring of the villagers, "did you not tell him of your name and status?"

"I did," Sakura answered, blinking slowly to clear her sight, "I was tasked... to heal his men... to," she shook her head, a few golden sparks leaping off her neck and making her face scrunch in pain, "save... save, the girl is-is hidden... please... f-find her..."

"Kai," the kunochi growled lowly, "free her." The young woman was gone in the same breath and the boy was sitting in front of Sakura, thin fingers wrapping around the silver sparking collar, separating it from the younger girl's sensitive skin.

"Don't bother boy," the elder of the village snarled at him, "that's pure chakra tempered steal with chakra amplified acid etched seals from the Uzumaki clan, the Uzumaki woman behind you specifically." The red haired woman braced her face on her weak arms, sobbing for her mistake in trusting a seemingly harmless old man as a child, she never dreamed of being used like he did to her, forcing her to heal countless people till she collapsed.

"You really shouldn't underestimate the Haruno clan," Hiruzen drawled, watching the well shined metal crack under the white knuckles of the preteen, "they have a tendency to prove you wrong."

"Sorry Sakura-hime," Kai grunted, "this is gonna hurt!" Sakura hummed and that seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, the collar shattered into two pieces and with its shattering an explosion resembling the shattering of the earth blinded and defended everyone present. Hurricane force winds burst around into existence around Sakura, as if a mother was eagerly greeting her child after being separated for too many days. Kai coughed as he was slammed into the wall of bending bamboo whistling in the harsh rotating wind and light, however he wasn't as blinded as everyone else, his demonic golden eyes showed him what human eyes could not see. Inside the rotating hurricane force winds and blinding light was Sakura, glowing as if her chakra was shinning through her skin. In fact the heat was so much that her old, dirty, too small, travel kimono and hakkamas were burned away by the light and eagerly replaced by some thing else. Something even he had to wait for the light to fade to see, once the winds died down and the light faded everyone was left speechless at the sight of the young girl standing before them. Sakura was suddenly wearing a dress, a beautiful dress with a wide collar that wrapped loosely around the edges of her shoulders, it hung from her elbows and hips in large bells, yet clung to her waist and non-existent bust like a second skin. The entire dress appeared to have been made from the leaves of the forest, except the leaves were carved from pure almost midnight green emerald stones, the jems were even as thin as the leaves they mimicked. Sakura's hair reached just past her shoulders, for once her bangs were pushed aside, revealing her elegant silver crown that looked like the small baby branches of a white oak were reaching out around her forehead like little fans, sweeping her long locks back from her face to reveal her gorgeous perfectly emerald doe eyes and the transparent jade leaf sitting proudly in the middle of her forehead.

"Finally," Sakura murmured softly, settling back down on her bare feet as the wind faded away into a gentle breeze, "its been by far too long."

"Sakura-hime," she looked up slightly and found Kai kneeling before her, one arm braced on his knee with his head bowed but not low enough to hid his pleased smile, "it is good to feel your signature again, Hime."

"Its good to see you too Kai-nii," Sakura murmured, smiling softly at him

"Hime," Sakura turned at the softly surprised voice and found Aiko standing at the edge of the bamboo shoot wall with wide golden eyes, a knocked out red head braced against her back. "I'm sorry Sakura-hime," the teen sighed, bowing her head as if in shame, "my arms are full, I can't bow without dropping her..."

"That is fine Aiko-nee," Sakura replied kindly, "I'm glade you are unharmed, thank you for finding her as well." The teen sighed in disappointment at herself but still smiled in relief. Hearing a soft shuffle behind her, Sakura turned to see Mikio kneeling on the ground, to his left was a numb looking Kimimaru, and to his right was a knocked out Haku and stunned Guren still laying on the ground as if the man she was carrying earlier was still there atop her, though truthfully he was long since lifted into the wall of bamboo.

"Mikio-nii, Guren, Kimimaru, Haku," Sakura called as if in surprise, "are you all well?" She turned her foot, as if to approach them but Guren flinched and she stopped, green eyes widening slightly in realization, a shadow fell over her eyes and she turned her back to them, fight the urge to cry. Guren flinched as little curious vines swept forward from the bamboo forest, wrapping around her steal bracelets and anklets, mimicking its actions on her with the boys to her right. She couldn't even muster a scream or shout before the restraining bracelets and anklets were shattered into pieces, letting her power flow freely through her body once more; a glance at the boys said that it was Sakura's doing, none of them had a scratch were the bracelets once sat, as if they had never been there.

"Sakura-Chan, I'm glade you are unharmed," Hiruzen said he dusted off his knees and stood, approaching her slowly as if wiry of startling her. "How were your travels? Can you give me a debriefing?"

"Hokage-sama shouldn't be so friendly with the princess," Aiko pouted at the old man but she only received an amused chuckles from the old man

"My apologies! I'm so used to sweet Sakura-Chan suppressing her aura and being a sweet little nine year old academy student that I forgot her title amongst her people!" Hiruzen chuckled warmly, turning his warm bright smile from the blushing teen to the suddenly embarrassed looking little hime still standing before him, "well Haruno-hime-sama, can you tell me if you've had any success with your mission?"

"Yes Hokage-sama," Sakura answered falling to one knee and over lapping one fist with a palm and holding the gesture out to him, her eyes closed and a soft smile on her lips. It was then that the villagers hidden in the grass realized their mistake with the young traveler. Sakura Haruno was the princess and rightful heir of the demonic noble clan of the southern 'eternal spring forest', meaning she was a demon princess and to make matters worst, the demon princess was kneeling to _Sarutobi Hiruzen_. The demon princess bowed to no man, no human, not even to her own parents the queen and king of demons. To bow was to submit, to submit was to admit weakness, to be weak is to lose a battle, to beat the princess in battle is to ascend to nobility. Meaning the one the princess lost to becomes her husband and rightful king of demons. Meaning the princess of demons acknowledged Hiruzen Sarutobi's power and superiority over her own abilities, she essentially named him _king of demons_; though thanks to age difference, not through marriage, it was all about power in this case.

"Would you like the report to be written or verbal?" Sakura asked

"I did not force little Aiko to carry me so far north to _read_ a scroll," Hiruzen slumped, as if disappointed with the options; Sakura giggled, raising one hand to cover her mouth to hid her smile. "Tell me about your adventures Sakura-chan, I would like to hear your stories, who was the first to agree to your thoughts? Who was the first to join you on your mission?" Sakura answered his questions easily and simply, giving him the very dull and bare bones of each clan and their special abilities she came in contract with as well as their opinion in aiding or retreating from the war or joining in a nearby village. He had been surprised that in the east Sakura had come across one hundred and eighty clans; eight of those clans decided to join the hidden mist, sixty would join the war but were too scared or distrusting of the hidden mist to join them at this current point in time, thirty were killed or pushed out of the hidden mist lands and the remaining ten clans were nothing more than rumors. As Sakura read of these names from her scroll and read aloud of their supposed abilities, Hiruzen had the suspicion that Sakura had actually found a few of them but decided to aid them in keeping their silence and non-existent status. He may not understand why she agreed to keep them hidden but he supposed that was her own way of showing them honor and respecting their wishes, whatever those maybe. Surprisingly, in the land of hidden clouds, far to the north, Sakura came across a total of fifty still surviving thought to be deceased clans. Of those remaining fifty, only ten decided to join the hidden cloud village on a temporary visa to aid in the war and another ten would aid in the war but refused to join a hidden village. The remaining thirty were either none-existent, made up or have been dead for decades; again Hiruzen had the feeling that Sakura was sparing a few of those supposed to be dead clans and keeping the secret of their existence to herself. While traveling between the countries, from fire to mist to cloud and back to fire again, Sakura came across nearly two hundred plus clans, each as different and as unique as the next. Too many of them wished to remain traveling merchants or nomads, barely even five dozen of them chose to join a village and even less of them decided to aid in the war with what little knowledge they did have. Again came the feeling of Sakura holding back some names, as if protecting small families or last survivors of one purge or another. Coming from a clan that was nearly whipped out itself just a few years ago, Hiruzen guessed the girl knew how they felt about being hidden.

He couldn't very well scold her for protecting these few terrified survivors, can he?

"You've done beautifully, my child," Hiruzen gave her a proud smile, true grandfatherly love sweeping through his aura like sunlight greeting a new day, "though I suggest working on your ability to lie, it's really quite bad." Aiko and Kai both snorted in amusement, Sakura bowed her head in shame and mumbled out an embarrassed 'yes sir', "Other than that, I couldn't be prouder of you." 'Mikio' looked up from the ground and smiled to himself, it had been a long time since he last saw his student blush so brightly—in embarrassment, pride and over flowing joy; the love that small girl felt for her people and the man who represented them seemed to be as open and endless as the ocean itself.

Now if only he could get her to see how much she felt for a certain Uchiha…

…

* * *

…

**I couldn't help it, I had to have this one long, all those precious little details and hick-ups, I couldn't just cut them out and put them into the next chapter, that would be cruel even to my self**

**Besides, the next chapter is the final month, meaning the final climax is approaching **

**Page 22**


	32. Chapter 32

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 32: final month

Koomahana

**Okay I finally looked it up, Waterfall Shadow is translated into Taki Kage (Takikage in this case)**

**By the way, I might make the ruler of the 'eternal spring forest' (the Haruno's homeland) be called Morikage (forest shadow) or maybe Onikage (Demon Shadow) but I haven't decided… I might go with the literal historical usage of Maō, which is the Japanese name for a ruler of Mazoko (their original name for demons, Oni is just a shortage of that name, like texting OMG for 'Oh My Gosh') **

**By the way I'll have a little skit at the end of the chapter that'll clear up any confusion for the main ark of this story… I hope**

**PS: I lied, sorry, but the final arc will begin in the chapter! I promise!**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

Tenzo-Mikio = they're the same person but at one point I didn't know which name to use

…

…

"Kizashi-sama!" The man looked up at the sound of his name and watched calmly as two teens fell from the trees overhead and landed in crouches before him. "Kizashi-sama, Sakura-hime is alive and well," Kai intoned as he stood to his full height, bowed slightly over because of the young girl on his back.

"I know," Kizashi smiled warmly at him, "thank you for freeing her." Kai nodded at him before kneeling on the ground, revealing the sleeping red haired girl on his back. "Who is that Kai?" Kizashi asked as he peered closer to the little girl, she beaten pretty bad, with bruises and scares running the length of her neck and arms; even her thin legs looked as if rats tried feasting on her at one point or another.

"This is Karen Uzumaki," Kai answered, a frown twisting his young face, "Sakura-hime requests that you take her to the village..."

"Hm," from the corner of his eye, Kizashi watched Ai stiffen, her blue-hazel eyes sharpening on Kai with a surprised look. "And the woman?" Kizashi asked, looking towards the woman braced on Ai's back.

"Karen's mother," Kai answered

"Uh-huh... where is lord Hokage?" Kizashi looked down at the kneeling boy, well aware that he was keeping something from him.

"Lord Hokage decided to stay behind with Sakura-hime's travel companions," Kai answered simply, "upon return, Ai-san must inform Anbu of Lord Hokage's location and explain the situation to the council."

"...So there are orders for Ai-Chan and myself but what are your orders?" Kizashi questioned, staring down at Kai, wondering if he would give in and speak the truth.

"...I... I am to return to Sakura-Hime's side... after delivering Karen-san to you," Kai hesitated slightly in his answer, his eyes remained on the ground, refusing to look at his elder. Kizashi sighed heavily, stooping close to the ground, he gently lifted the little girl into his arms and turned away from the boy.

"Go boy," Kizashi ordered, "My daughter calls you..." _she always calls for you..._

"Thank you... Kizashi-sama," Kai whispered and disappeared from sight, flying through the trees like a sprit.

_"Kai-kun please tell father to look for a classmate of mine," Sakura turned towards him, soft smile in place, "her name is Ami Nanami, she's lightning natured, has purple hair and brown eyes. She was kidnapped from the village by the intruder from last year. Can you relay that to him?"_

_"Yes Sakura-hime," he smiled kindly at her, "your father dots on you, he will undoubtedly do as you ask."_

_"Thank you Kai-nii!" She smiled brightly at him, like a thousand suns_

_Forgive me Imoto,_ Kai thought as he ran away from his cousin and uncle, _I will search for the girl... and bring her back to you._

…

"Ah, I was wondering when they were going to get here," Hiruzen smiled, turning to look down the road before him, two of the children behind him pushed themselves up to their feet for a better view and watched as four shadows jumped down from the trees to run across the stone road leading south.

"Hokage-sama!" A white masked man shouted, skidding to a stop in front of him, "Are you well? Did they hurt you?"

"The Haruno's wouldn't harm me Hawk," Hiruzen said with a disappointed look at the man, "I am perfectly unharmed. Though the same cannot be said for these villagers, can you and your team help them down before they start to get blood clots?"

"Uh, um, yeah, sure... yes sir!" the Anbu agents each hurried to a section of the wall, drew their tantos and tried to cut through the bamboo, only to stagger back with jarred arms chipped blades.

"Oh yeah, Kai Haruno-kun created this nice little forest, I wouldn't suggest using blades," Hiruzen added thoughtfully, as if remembering that little detail too late. The four men bit their lips and nodded in acceptance, they each weaved into the bamboo shoots and carefully pulled the sleepy villagers down from their knot-work of bamboo. When the agents came to the wounded ninja they found the shinobi to be in perfect health, just knocked out from chakra exhaustion. Slowly the sleepy men and women carried their still sleeping children towards the edges of the bamboo forest, sitting down stiffly and laying back as if comfortable and falling right back to sleep. Hiruzen stood from his little stone seat and walked around his high backed chair to approach the three children who were laying on the ground just behind him, but to his amazement they were gone.

All three of them disappeared without him even hearing them shuffle

Hiruzen turned his face into the wind and took a deep breath of the cool night air, smiling at the stars peaking over the waving tops of the bamboo forest. The three children would find Sakura, they would find her and train with her, fight with her and protect her, never leaving her side again. Now he knew that Sakura Haruno, the child his 'grandson' adored, would be safe from the cruelest of fates.

…

…

She panted heavily, racing through the near pitch dark forest, leaving behind a blindingly obvious trail, not caring that a blind man could follow her if he wished. To her right the air was as cold as ice, threatening to burn any uncovered skin blinding scarlet; to her left the forest whispered like whistling kunai, pretending to cut and scrape at her already burning limbs. To her right was Haku, unconsciously freezing their path so they could skate through the forest with next to no problem; to her left was Kimimaru, dressed in his insect like bone shield and cutting down anything standing in his way. They moved like wreaths, the shadows of ancient ghosts and forgotten nightmares flourished in the whispering forest they left scattered behind. Their friend, comrade, ally, sibling was in danger; more specifically she was _going_ to be in trouble, a whole mountain worth of it. They suspected the 'siblings' they traveled with weren't speaking the whole truth, that they were directing conversations and distracting them away from the lies, keeping the three of them at arm's length without letting anyone realize it. But not even these lies put a scratch into the bond they forged, the three of them understood the reasons behind the lies, the purpose of the distance between them; that understanding was why they were racing blindly through the forest, searching for their comrade and friend.

Suddenly there was the sound of a tree breaking in half, making the earth rumble and groan in protest before snapping and forcing the three kids high into the air. They went with the familiar burst of raw power, twisting and spinning in the air as they hit their apex and started to descend towards the earth in a blinding rush of speed. Guren didn't think as she formed three hand signs and created a bowl for the three of them to hide in while a silk thin crystalline parachute opened up over head and jerked their free fall short. Looking through the crystal, the three pointed out the dancing forms of combatants and with a single agreeing node Guren shattered their parachute into glittering dust, forcing them into an accelerated fall straight into the middle of the fight. They free fell until the very last second, when they had their targets undivided attention, to jump out of the crystalline bowl and tackled the surprised pinkette.

"Sakura!" The girl could do nothing but try to catch all three of the kids falling strait for her, the bowl they were falling in shattering before it could impact the earth, showering all of them with beautiful glittering dust. Sakura caught the three other kids but landed in a bowl of branches and leaves, keeping the four of them from falling to their death with the fifty foot fall straight down onto earthen spikes.

"Hay!" Sakura coughed, struggling in the heap of tangled limbs, "just what-ow! Are you—_ow_—why are—ow! What are you—"

"Never do that again," Guren sobbed, "Don't leave... _Please_." Sakura sighed, staring down at the purple head of her friend, she had the feeling that Guren meant 'don't leave me too' but she couldn't be sure. Haku was clinging to her left arm, half on top of Guren and half on top of the branch cushion that broke their fall. Kimimaru tried to get under Sakura to break her fall, but since the branches caught them, he settled for just having Sakura and Guren covering him, his left arm had been temporarily transformed into Sakura's pillow. Knowing-remembering-their situations, Sakura couldn't just tell them to go back to her Kage, she couldn't tell them to forget her, she couldn't... She couldn't force them away, not while they were clinging and crying on her like they were toddlers clinging to their mother; okay so Guren and Haku were openly crying on her, Kimimaru was just hiding behind his mask of bones again. Instead of answering them, Sakura gently untangled her right hand and set it on Guren's rumbled purple locks, then repeated the processes with a less then happy Haku, who at first thought she was pushing them away. The little ice wielder relaxed and cuddled closer to Guren and Sakura (what little wasn't buried under the older girl), enjoying the soothing strokes of Sakura's short nails running through his short rat-nest hair. For Kimimaru, Sakura adjusted her weight so she wasn't laying on him as much as she was leaning against him, smiling to herself, Sakura snuggled her head into his shoulder and allowed him to retract his bone shell so he could curl into her side like a caterpillar.

With the reassuring comfort that their friend would remain beside them, the three children fell asleep

Sakura sighed as she felt the warmth of her friends seep into her body and listening to the surprisingly relaxing sound of their soft snores, telling her that they each fell asleep soon after tackling her. Sakura relaxed in Kimimaru's hold and Guren's embrace, watching the dark sky over head lightened as time passed and the moon slowly winked at her from behind the waving of the knotted trees they were suspended in. Honestly, from a distance it would look like they were in a dysfunctional tree that couldn't decide to be a weeping willow, rambunctious bonsai or the arrogant straight girth of a pine. However, if someone were to stand at the base of the 'tree' they would think that they were on the edge of an ancient forest that probably belonged in a fairytale. Sakura though wasn't bothered by the strange appearance of the 'tree', looking as if hundreds of them all grew together to form one giant mass, no her attention was on the pristine white orb winking down at her from behind waving branches and shy clouds.

"See Hime?" Sakura murmured to herself, unaware that the sleepy sounds of her friends were beginning to rub off on her, "I'm not alone... I can still... Pr-prov~ve you w-wrong..." Sakura fell asleep, never noticing how the pale moon seemed to glow brightly for a moment, making the pastel green leaf of her crown glow before settling back down onto her forehead. High overhead a young man watched the pile of children for a few minutes. Then suddenly there was a shift in the tall grass half a click from the base of the 'tree', the man dropped from the bottom of the branch he clung too, falling so fast he felt a leaf from the branches cradling the children brush down the middle of his body, feeling like a blade threatening to cut him. Then he flipped and landed at the base of the tangled mess of trees, surrounded by man sized roots, and taking off in a blur of dust and shadow, weaving through the tall grass like a snake. The shadow he saw from the branch was a young man who screamed as he saw him but his voice was cut off as he tackled the older male, slapping a hand down on his mouth and letting his weight settle on his limbs, pinning him in place.

"You scream, you die," he whispered, "you wake Imoto and you die a very painful death, understand?" The older man nodded vigorously under his hand, panic induced tears edged his brown eyes. "Good, now you are going to answer me quickly, quietly and simply, understood?" Again the man nodded, "who are you?" He lifted his hand

"Koizuma Nakata, chu—hmrumph!" He slapped his hand back down, muffling the man's response

"Quick and simple, remember?" He asked and the man nodded, "What do you want?"

"Nothing!" He squeaked out, twitching as the younger man's hand slapped back down and paling as he saw the other male narrow his eyes at him

"Why are you here?" He lifted his hand again

"Border patrol," he answered, expecting for the teen to slap his hand down on his mouth again but the younger male only pulled back from him, his confused look saying he needed to explain. "I felt a burst of power..." He added hesitantly, not sure how much more he could explain before the young man would slap his hand back over his mouth again. He stared nervously into the narrowed black eyes. Suddenly the boy jumped to his feet, staring resolutely out at the plane of grass, standing a relatively safe distance from him. As the older male pushed himself up off his back, he realized that the teen was certainly younger then he first assumed, in fact the boy had to be at least fourteen years old.

"You're from waterfall," the boy said suddenly, surprising the man, "what is your rank and where is your team?"

"I'm a chunin and my team..." He trailed off, looking off to the side as if reconsidering answering. The boy looked back at him, the look more demanding an answer then his words could've sounded. "They're dying..." He answered softly, crossing his legs and grabbing hold of his ankles, still refusing to look at the boy who bested him so easily.

"...I will need to speak to imoto but we might be able to help your team," the boy said suddenly, "in exchange my siblings need a safe place to rest for a few days."

"Uh, wha-" the young man started but was quickly interrupted by the creepiest looking glare the man had ever seen.

"Go inform your Kage kid," the teen ordered and the chunin disappeared, never needing to be told twice

…

…

When Guren woke up it was still early morning but there was a big difference in the surroundings she remembered from the previous night. Instead of warm golden skies of a waking summer day, she found a dark wooden roof shielding her from the sky. Pushing herself off her still slumbering pink haired friend, Guren carefully crawled to the edge of their floating bed and looked down at the floor below. Their floating bed wasn't as high up as she had been expecting and instead of seeing dark floor boards she found herself staring down into the dark onyx eyes of Mikio. Guren and 'Mikio' continued to stare sleepily at each other, as if waking up and seeing the other unexpectedly and didn't know what to say. Guren yawned and raised one hand to rub sleepily at her eye, except gentle hands curled around her shoulders and just as gently pulled her away from the edge. Allowing the hands to pull her away, Guren sat a little straighter in the bowl of branches and leaves as she turned to look at the person just barely hidden over her shoulder. Kimimaru crouched behind and to her right, his bone shield resurfacing slowly to cover his vitals, he was still weak from the poor treatment they received in hidden grass so his stubbornness to reform his protective shell was a little surprising.

"Kimi-kun," Guren whispered, too sleepy to speak louder and yet conscious enough to know to keep her voice low so she wouldn't wake their two younger friends. Kimimaru didn't answer her silent question, choosing instead to stare down at the teen they thought they knew; to Guren the white haired boy looked as if he's been awake for a while despite having woken up after her. The boy below them blinked slowly before lifting a hand and a single hand sign, the effect was the bottom of the branch bowl giving out and forcing Sakura. The pinkette yelped when she landed and was soon joined by the youngest in their group, Haku landed on the hard floor and groaned in pain. Guren immanently started the long range attack sequence, quickly followed by Kimimaru's merciless bone bullets. Mikio quickly back away from them and started blocking or dodging the weapons thrown at him with unforgivable ease. Sakura whimpered and curled into a ball, holding her head delicately as Kimimaru retreated to her side and crouched in front of her, examining the bump on her forehead.

"Just a bump," Kimimaru murmured, his voice deepening as his bone shell encased the lower portion of his face, "no lasting damage, you'll be fine."

"I know I'll live," Sakura whimpered at him, "but it still hurts." Kimimaru chuckled at her, his hand rubbing her sore head affectionately. Guren grumbled under her breath as she retreated back to her friends, lifting a sleepy Haku into her lap.

"Everyone awake?" Mikio questioned as he approached the group of children; they each turned towards him various looks of disapproval or annoyance on their faces. Stopping just at the edge of sunlight streaming in from the window next to the hanging bed revealing his simple civilian clothing. In the afternoon sunlight his russet red hair appeared more brown then red and his eyes were almost black in appearance, even his skin seemed darker than his usual cream.

"Mikio-nii," Sakura whined sleepily, "there are nicer ways to wake someone."

"If you're awake then quit whining," Mikio ordered stiffly, his hard voice woke Sakura up and she straitened in Kimimaru's arms like a sprung trap, "it's time." He formed a single hand sign and the three children around Sakura yelped as the branches that once acted like their bed wrapped around them in tight restraints. Sakura pushed herself up to her feet and bowed her head sullenly, walking towards Mikio with a frown and teary eyes, as if she didn't want to leave her friend's warm embrace.

"What's going on?!" Guren asked loudly, "what do you mean by it 'it's time'?!"

"That is none of your concern," Mikio answered simply, watching Sakura stop beside him

"Stop keeping secrets from us!" Guren screamed at him, "We're your friends! Friends don't keep secrets from each other!" Sakura flinched, her face paling and her eyes growing wide, her hands started to tremble at her side and her knees began to shake beneath her weight. Mikio sighed and patted her head reassuringly, he should've known then to expect the children to just follow orders without questioning him.

"I'll explain it to them," Mikio told Sakura, "everything is set up below, go on and head down." Sakura nodded numbly and walked away, ignoring the shouting from Guren and soft crying from Haku, who apparently thought that she was abandoning them again. The door slid closed behind Sakura and Mikio fixed the three with a stern glare, silencing Guren and making Kimimaru stiffen in his restraints.

"Sakura Haruno is the disgraced but rightful heiress of a clan of demons from the south," Mikio informed them, silencing them with that simple sentence. "now keep in mind that I'm not allowed to inform you three _everything_ about her so keep an open mind with what I'm about to tell you got it?"

"Just… just what are you going to tell us?" Guren asked softly, frowning up at him

"Sakura-chan was chosen for the mission based on her parentage," Mikio explained, "plus it was her idea to gather the hidden clans of the five great nations, her hope was to get them to join a village or at least aid in the current war; even if it is only on a temporary visa. To do that she needed to leave the village hidden in the leafs, also known as Konohagakure but she also needed a guardian and one who would both respect her and guild her. For that purpose I was chosen, my true name is Tenzo; I am an Anbu captain and my only purpose is to protect Sakura Haruno. In case the shinobi of the other villages found or tried to interrogate us, lord Hokage gave her a very special shield; and myself by extension."

"What kind of shield?" Guren frowned at him, "I never noticed anything special about her when we fight."

"This is a diplomatic shield," Tenzo-Mikio explained, "by claiming to be lord Hokage's apprentice and future heir of the village, she gains diplomatic immunity and is free to continue her mission with the aid of that particular village. The second portion of her village is to see whether or not she can strengthen the bonds between the five great nations, it has taken us nearly an entire year just to reach this point."

"…Why do you need to gather the shinobi clans who are in hiding?" Haku asked with a soft sniffle

"We are in the beginning of the Fourth Great Ninja World War," Tenzo-Mikio answered, "we are fighting a demon that can stain our oceans red with blood, turn forests into ashes and plunge the world into endless darkness. If we are going to fight this demon and win the battle for survival, then we need all the help we can get; even if it means we have to drag people out from under rocks kicking and screaming."

"…Tenzo-san… right?" Kimimaru questioned softly, their sometimes teacher nodded in agreement, "um, why do you call your enemy a demon? How do you know that?"

"For the past year the five great nations have been gather information on our enemy and though our enemy is not truly a demon, their weapon of choice very much is." Tenzo-Mikio explained, "Our cover story is that we're siblings searching for our parents after an attack on our village, which separated us. If shinobi from a hidden village detain us and question us, we are to reveal Sakura's status to the Hokage and pray they don't intend to go to war with the leaf. But her true mission is to gather the lost shinobi clans and my true mission is to protect her, no matter what happens and at whatever coast." Tenzo-Mikio turned away from the three dangling children, letting them absorb the information he just gave them, just as he reached out to the bedroom door a soft voice stopped him.

"What'll happen if Sakura dies?" It was Haku's whisper soft voice, tinged with fear, "who'll take her place to finish the mission?"

"…No one can replace Sakura Haruno," Tenzo-Mikio opened and closed the door behind himself, sighing now that he did as he promised to do. He didn't know how the children were going to react to the information, they might assume that they were only going to use them for a war that had nothing to do with them. They might assume that Sakura was going to abandoned them again, they might even think that they spent the last months lying to them to get what they wanted from the three of them. But regardless of what they thought, Tenzo knew that Sakura would stop at nothing to protect them, even if it meant that she would have to take the hit.

_Please don't reject her,_ Tenzo thought as he lifted off the wall and started down the hall, _I don't think she can handle the rejection._ In the room he left behind, the three children remained hanging from their once bed, veins on their foreheads pulsing in irritation and their faces reddening in anger. Haku was glaring at his binds as he wiggled his hands, trying to form hand signs; Guren was trying to crystalize the branches restraining her and was starting to sweat as she neared her limit. Kimimaru observed the two struggling children behind his almost complete bone mask, his one visible green eye blinking slowly as if sleep was calling to him. The three of them were still tired from the race through the lands the previous night, so they weren't at full strength but even with that exhaustion hanging over their heads, they were still stubbornly fighting against their living restraints.

"…should we go join them?" Kimimaru questioned as his bone shell exploded outward, ripping his restraints off in a flash

"She 'aint leav'en me behind!" Guren bellowed as she took off for the door

…

Reaching the bottom the basement of the odd-tree house, Sakura followed Mikio down a short hall and into an open room filled with torches, a small pool, a table filled various objects and a large empty stone pad with a breath taking integrate knot work seal carved into the dark stone.

"This is where we'll perform the technique that allows me to share a few physical characteristics as you," Tenzo said as he started to remove his clothes, having learned from the first time that anything unnecessary would be burned off. Sakura sighed but nodded, following his example in removing her sticky, dirty clothes that she forgot to change out of before she fell asleep the night before. Glancing at her guardian, Sakura sighed at the stubbornly present pants that Tenzo would moan and groan over later because he 'forgot' to remove them for the seal. She herself was dressed down to her breast bindings and black shorts, regardless of their already ruined state she was not going to lose another dress due to the blasted seal she and Tenzo had to perform every month just to keep up their 'sibling' routine. Tenzo nodded at Sakura and walked to the center of the seal and turned to face her, Sakura took her place before him and examined the seal curiously, frowning at the stranger then should be lines beneath her feet.

"Mrs. Uzumaki looked at the scroll and made a few adjustments," Tenzo answered her silent question, "she found it in my bag and corrected the 'mistakes' as she called them. She didn't question me about it but she did fix it."

"Dose it hold the same purpose as it did before?" Sakura asked softly

"Yes," Tenzo nodded courtly, "My identity was almost revealed in the last village, so she made the necessary adjustments to the seal so it'll last longer. Supposedly it relies more on the earth's chakra network then it dose on the casters, so it should—_theoretically_—last longer."

"So we don't need to worry about it for how many months?" Sakura asked, they typically had to reapply the seal every month before all of Tenzo's original genetic material pop out and ruin their story of being siblings.

"She didn't think there was going to be a time limit, just a matter of applying and then removing the seal," Tenzo answered with a shrug, "at least we got a real seal master to look at it and correct it, master Jiraiya didn't know about the astronomical pain levels of the seal. Mrs. Uzumaki removed that from the equation… at least, according to her."

"What if it's permanent?" Sakura asked, suddenly afraid of using this new seal; before she could count on it not being permanent, after so much time his true features would begin to surface again. She no longer had that promise of it coming undone, now there was a chance of changing him forever, like a particularly ugly tattoo or nasty burn scar. "You'd be twisting your genetics! Everything that makes you, you, would be gone—!"

"Sakura," his voice cut through Sakura's panick and she snapped her mouth shut with a snap, her eyes widening at the tender look on Tenzo's face. "We've been living with that possibility since the first time we performed the seal. With the experimentation on my DNA from Orochimaru and the dozens of genetic changes we've made on this mission, I highly doubt that there's anything left of my original DNA." He stepped forward and crouched, wrapping his once large arms around her smaller shoulders, she could feel his smile as he pressed his cheek against hers. "If this is permanent, then you simply earn a true elder brother," Tenzo murmured to her, "I would be honored to truly be your elder brother."

"You've always been my big brother," Sakura murmured, "but what if this new seal amplifies the pain? I don't think I can survive hearing you scream like you did the first time." His arms tightened around her and she snuggled her face into the crook of his neck, fighting the urge to cry because of the painful memory of their first attempt at the seal. The seal would have no actual effect on her, it only changed him, forcing his physical appearance to adjust and share similar characteristics as herself; especially in the facial area.

"You don't need to be scared," Tenzo murmured, "I'll always be by your side. I was there for your first days as a student, so I'll be here for you when you graduate and become a true shinobi." He pulled back just enough to place his forehead against Sakura's, smiling encouragingly at her, as if they weren't at war and death wasn't searching for them this very moment. "And I will be there when you become a genin and I'll watch you become a chunin, and then a Jonin and I already know you'll take on a genin cell of your own."

"You think I'll be a Jonin someday?" Sakura sniffed at him, rubbing a stray tear away from her face

"I know someday, you'll become a legendary kunochi," he chuckled, "stronger than even the great Sanin." Sakura giggled at him, her chest swelling with pride and joy, because he acknowledged the possibility of a dream she never dared to speak of. Mikio rose to his feet and stepped back, holding his hands out expectantly towards Sakura. She sniffed and smiled, placing her own porcelain pale hands in his larger tanned palms, keeping a careful inch between them.

"Transcend the ancients," Sakura murmured, the seal beneath their feet glowing bright amethyst, "merge our blood and grant us kin forever more." The marks of the seal on the floor wiggled and shifted, crawling over their feet like worms. Despite having preformed the genetic modification seal several times before, Sakura still shivered at the gooey feeling of worms crawling up her legs and the look of disgust and discomfort on Mikio's face said that he wasn't used to the strange and creepy feeling too. Just as the gooey, violet glowing seals wiggled up to Sakura's waste, she felt several hands clasp her arms.

"You ain't ditchen us that easily!" Gurn smirked at Sakura from her left side

"Idiots!" Tenzo barked at them, "You don't understand what's happening!"

"We understand perfectly," Kimimaru replied courtly, "by asserting ourselves in the seal, we are giving up our bloodlines and appearances. We will no longer be, Kobayashi, Yuki or Kaguya, we will be Haruno's."

"I don't mind having pink hair," Haku smiled shyly at Sakura, "it just means that I'm that much closer to being your brother."

"You are so not getting pink hair," Guren snickered at him, "you'd get mistaken for a girl twice as often as you do now."

"Stop your bantering," Sakura ordered, closing her eyes in acceptance, "nothing else for us to do now Mikio-nii. Guide them to the correct positions please." Mikio looked down and saw that the seal was already adjusted itself to the newcomers, starting to crawl over the children's feet even as Sakura took careful steps back to lessen the distance between them.

"Alright fine, left palm down, right palm up, match your palms to your neighbor's," Mikio ordered, "Guren step closer to me, Haku get beside Sakura, Kimimaru get closer to me, ever one ready?" He took one last look at ever one and nodded courtly at Sakura, "Good." Sakura sighed as she looked down at the seals that finally reached everyone's waists, which then made all the seals crawl up each of them at the same pace. "oh yeah brats, this is gonna be painful so don't fight it, if you do you'll die for sure," Mikio smirked at Sakura as she gave him an annoyed look, as if she didn't approve of him being happy about the pain they were about to experience.

Needless to say the three friends shared unsure looks, as if suddenly regretting their decision

…

…

The group had been traveling for two days to reach the border where the group of travelers were waiting, despite what the messenger said and the arguments of the village council, the nephew to the Takikage joined the team meeting with the ninja at the border. It had been about three days since the messenger last saw them, they were worried that perhaps the strange Shinobi would've moved on by now. However, upon reaching the once lush green grass valley, the shinobi of waterfall found a raised forest of trees standing atop a single source, as if the forest grew up instead of out like other forests. Cautious of the phenomenon, the group split in half, sending three Jonin and the little brother forward to greet the strangers. Walking forward as calmly as possible, the group approached the raised forest slowly, eyes peeled and watchful of the tall grass dancing in the wind. About half way to the raised forest the group stopped walking as something filtered through the air, soon enough they recognized the sound as laughter. When they proceeded forward again, the sound slowly and steadily grew louder and louder until they realized the sound of laughter was coming from several young children. About two ackers from the base of the raised forest the team stopped again, staring in wide-eyed fascination as the tall grass was interrupted by a waist tall bamboo crossed fence. The inside of the fence was lined with a small flower bed, rounding all the way around the edge, giving the base of the raised forest a large Acer wide yard lined with a pretty flower garden that was guarded by the bamboo weaved fence. In the yard there were four young children laughing and giggling as they played together, ignoring a figure dressed in blue at the base of the raised forest, seemingly weeding a garden that had yet to be placed.

"This is who you met?" One of the young men questioned, Nakata went to speak but one of the children heard the Jonin and he slowed his running to turn and look curiously towards the group. The Jonin stared at the boy as he stared blankly back at them, Nakata took a step forward and smiled pleasantly at the boy.

"Hello little one—"

"Ahhh!" The boy screamed, jolting the group and startling the other children, three other children looked at them and screamed, together they all ran to the person at the edge of the yard. The teenager stood and hurried forward, allowing the children to cower behind him as he took a protective stance in front of them, arms raised to either side as if to protect the children from an attack.

"Um, I'm—" Nakata reached out and took another step forward, about that same time he felt the wind change course and turn cool. Recognizing the change, he froze instantly and habitually lifted his chin away from the very sharp root that burst from the ground to stop dangerously close to his throat. "We're no threat!" Nakata said loudly, his voice echoing in the air, stopping the attacking root almost as fast as it burst from the ground. "I was here a few nights ago! I'm Nakata! Koizuma Nakata!" The young boy standing protectively in front of the children straightened, his hazel eyes narrowed with suspicion and his thin mouth pressed into a tight line, as if in disapproval. Just behind the young boy were three other young children, two were clearly identical twin girls and the other a very small child hiding behind the boy so that only one midnight green eye peered out at the group.

"Mimaru, who are these people?" The waterfall Nin all turned to look up at the vertical forest, their eyes widening as they watched the roots all shift, twist and sprout new roots to form a wooden staircase to accommodate the young man walking down from the house that was almost perfectly hidden by the roots and trunks of the forest. As if the forest started to grow and someone decided to put a house at the edge of it, only for the forest to lift the house up with its growth. The young man walking down the root staircase was tall and almost skeleton thin, his mangy russet hair was lightly twisted and framed his ivory skin with delicate waves, making his wide almond shaped hazel eyes appear cool and calm. He was dressed in lose black pants that barely covered his callused bare feet and a long, old brown cloak that ended just above his bone-thin wrists.

"Mikio-nii, Koizuma-san returned," the young boy, Mimaru, smirked up at the older teen as he slowed to a stop at the edge of the fence, the children running from Mimaru and straight to the teen, hiding behind him as if he were a shield. "You owe me an orchard," the older teen groaned, his poster slumping, his eyes closing as he turned his face towards the sun.

"Dude! I was counting on you being too scared to come back!" Mikio, the eldest child there, groaned loudly, "I hate fruit trees! They're so much work!"

"Um, okay... could you please release us?" Nakata asked hesitantly, "now that you know we're not a threat, there's really no reason to threaten us like this..." Mikio and Mimaru stared blankly at him, as if not understanding what he was talking about, Nakata glanced down at the root still sitting stubbornly at his throat and the two eldest boys made 'ah' sounds; as if understanding finally dawned on them. Without a hand sign or indication that one of them performed the release of the technique, the root retreated from Nakata's throat; a glance behind himself reassured him that his fellow Nin were also released from their own forms of binds.

"So," Mikio called out as he stepped off the staircase, the three children still clinging to his back fearfully. "Which one of you is the Takikage?" He asked as he leaned forward and plucked a small child out from behind Kaiba, revealing the third and youngest child. Mikio smiled as the two girls hiding behind him darted behind Mimaru, peaking around his sides to stare at the waterfall ninja. Chuckling at the two girls, Mikio turned to look back at the ninja and saw that a tall brown haired young man had actually stepped forward, a serious look in his dark brown eyes.

"Aren't you a little young to be a Kage kid?" Mikio asked with a raised eyebrow, ignoring the tallest of the four young children step up behind him, as if seeking comfort from the teen.

"I'm his nephew," the man said with an irritated look on his face, "my apologies but uncle can't just leave our village at the drop of a hat. If you want to see him, you'll have to come back to the village with u—"

"No!" The child in Mikio's arms shouted suddenly, "No! No! No!" struggling in his arms frantically, the child managed to struggle out of his elder's arms and into Mimaru's arms. Mikio sighed heavily as the boy took the child from him and kneeled beside the little girls, who eagerly wrapped their arms around them both and started to whisper reassurances to the crying child.

"No!" The child cried out hysterically, "I don't wanna be a slave! No more! You promised!" The waterfall ninja flinched at the terrified wail, their eyes widening as they each took a closer inspection of the children before them.

"I'm sorry about that," Mikio rubbed the back of his head and tried to smile at them, "we just got out of grass country, I'm afraid they still haven't quite recovered from the treatment..." As the teen rattled on and on about how they shouldn't take the child's words to heart and how they were all really just fine on their own, the jonin present racked their eyes over the scars on his body. The most notable were the cuff scars on his wrists and the jagged scars of old burns on his feet, the next thing they noticed were the thin muscles of his hands and slight denting of his cheeks; as if he's been starved and only recently started eating regularly. When the ninja present turned their attentions towards the children, they noticed that the oldest appeared to haven't eaten a months, as if he gave all his meals to the slightly healthier looking children surrounding his feet, and by the scar on the left side of his forehead, he must've taken their fair share of beatings too. Mimaru wore a cast on his right arm and walked with a heavy limp, as if he was still getting used to a prostatic leg; yet he held their youngest as if he weighed nothing. The two little girls clinging to Mimaru (still staring at them as if they would eat them), wore identical scars on their necks, their faces were mostly hidden by thick, heavy woolen scarves but that didn't hide their bony fingers or scared legs, as if they were caught in a fire and didn't get treatment right away.

"The twins are Ren and Haru," Mikio said suddenly nearly startling the Jonin, making them look back at him as if to pretend that they weren't staring at the children, "Yuki is the youngest and Mimaru is the eldest of the siblings."

"How old are they?" The nephew asked softly

"Uh... I know Mimaru is ten... I think," he mumbled the last part as if he didn't want them to know that part, but even so, the waterfall Jonin got the impression that the teen didn't actually know the children's ages. "And as for the girls…" Mikio chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I don't have a clue," he bowed his head in shame and sighed the next part out in a mixture of sympathy and embarrassment, "I doubt they do..."

"...How old are you?" The younger brother questioned curiously, tilting his head slightly to the side. The teen blushed brightly, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking away, as if embarrassed about the answer, or perhaps not knowing the answer. Narrowing his eyes, the little brother carefully bent over, his hands tinkering with the straps of his kunai pouch before allowing it to land at his feet loudly. The three Jonin stiffened, their hands reflexively reaching for their own weapons, but the young man continued removing his weapons; going so far as to drop his back pouch and unhook his tanto from his back.

"Sir," Nakata called uncertainty

"They've had enough abuse from grown-ups," the man said coolly, straightening to look at the brunet beside him, "its time someone taught them the difference between adults and monsters." With that he walked forward calmly, Kaiba looked up at him and tugged Mimaru and Yuki closer to himself, as if to protect them from the man. The gray haired young man stopped walking forward and stared at them, the twin girls in particular, before flopping down onto his rear with his legs crossed, his arms spread wide to either side.

"I swear by my name of Tadashi Mizushima, me and my people will not let any harm come to you," the young man said, earning the complete attention of the young children, however it wasn't long before Kaiba snorted in disbelief, Mimaru and Yuki both curled together, the younger whimpering in fear. Tadashi, the nephew of the Takikage, pursed his lips in confusion and mild annoyance at the boy's behavior and when he dropped his eyes to the twins, he saw that they both stepped further out from behind Kaiba but only enough to let Tadashi see their filthy, torn clothes, the one was actually hiding behind the other. Just as Tadashi registered the girl's defensive positions and their distrustful expressions, the one closest to him stepped closer, showing that the other twin had actually been using her as support. While the girl took slow hesitant steps towards him, Tadashi saw that the further one was covered in makeshift bandages of leaves and vines, her right arm was in a wooden splint and wrapped snuggly with large leaves and what he guessed to be sap.

"Why?" The girl closest to him questioned softly, "What's in it for you?" Tadashi raised an eyebrow at the girl, as if he was surprised she spoke to him or confused about her words.

"You are children who need to be shown that not all grownups are fools," Tadashi answered simply

"…what benefits you from our presence with you?" the girl asked, a slight shift in the air pushed against her woolen old hood, revealing a dull pink lock of hair, "The leader of grass country kept us as medics to heal his men and electrocuted us when one was beyond saving. Will you do the same?"

"…I would never allow such monstrosity to happen before me," Tadashi said, trying not to show how the verbal kunai to his heart had affected him

"…what of your uncle?" the girl asked, eyes narrowing distrusting, "You are not the kage of waterfall, just his nephew. What power do you have?"

"My uncle would never allow such barbaric insanity to happen to any child," Tadashi said in a hard voice, "not after he fought so hard for me." The girl perked at the information, as if she was curious about his past but kept herself silent by staring at the jagged scar running up his neck and jaw, stopping just below his right eye like a thin blade. Mimaru stared down at him with hard hazel eyes, he adjusted his hold on Yuki and reached out to the little girl, as if to pull her back from the stranger who promised them safety.

"What is your name?" the girl questioned, Mimaru's hand stopped just over the girl's head, as if surprised she chose to continue the conversation

"I am Tadashi," he answered with a soft smile, "Tadashi Mizushima."

"I am Haru," the girl said offering him a hand, "your name is familiar, have I heard it before?"

"You're properly thinking of my father," Tadashi smiled as he took her hand in a firm hand shake, "his name was Takao Mizushima, he's also the previous Takikage."

"Truly?" she asked, watching him push himself up to his feet, staring into his bright seafoam green eyes, "Will I be able to meet him?"

"I can take you to his grave," Tadashi smiled sadly at her, "he's beside my mother and sister at the memorial tree."

"I am sorry for your lose," Haru bowed respectfully towards him

"It's okay," Tadashi patted her head, "I don't remember them anyways."

The flicker of something in his eyes tolled the little girl the opposite of his words

…

…

**Thoughts are helpful**

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**Page 16**


	33. Chapter 33

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 33: the blood red moon

Koomahana

**This got completed this morning so I'm not overly confident in its flow and everything else that's important**

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

The villagers of hidden waterfall watched the group of children wander in with the guide of several of their strongest Jonin, each child remained huddled close to each other, as if they thought they could disappear in each other's shadows. The three youngest children were carried in, the youngest in the eldest's arms and the twin girls were split between the second eldest and the nephew of their Takikage. Each villager whispered as the group of children carried past them, unconcerned that their old clothes and thick scares were revealed for the whole world to see. Several villagers had tears in their eyes as they stared at the old burn scars on the children's feet and the cuff scars on their wrists but what shook them all the most, were the almost skeleton body of the eldest and the cruelest looking scars covering his chest. The young man walked into the village with his brown cloak on and a trembling child in his arms but not long after word he removed his cloak to wrap the small child, as if to keep them warm from the cold mist from the countless waterfalls now surrounding them. The genin of the village shook in fear as the children passed, believing the group of children to be war orphans or prisoners of war. Parents held their children just a little closer, Chunin tried not to look sick at the scares littering the young man following Tadashi through the village and Jonin turned away from as if disgusted with the sight.

"I'm sorry," Tadashi said just as the Kage building came into sight, "no one has seen strangers since the war began... and for the first guest to be children, well—"

"It's okay, I get it," Mikio smiled reassuringly at him, "as far as I can tell this is a pretty nice village... are your people as nice as this place looks?" Tadashi didn't answer as a small form rushed out of the Kage building, the child's long teal hair and little white dress trailing after her made her appear as a commit.

"Fū!" Tadashi gasped, the little looked up at him with wide teary eyes, then without warning four dragonfly wings sprouted from her back. "FŪ!" Tadashi shouted as the little girl took flight, disappearing like a comment into the branches of the ancient oak tree that towered over the village. "Damn it," Tadashi hissed, turning to dash into the Kage building with the Jonin and teen close behind him. Taking the stairs to the next floor, Tadashi dashed past the security and slammed a pair of old wooden doors against their respective walls.

"Uncle!" Tadashi snapped out, looking furiously at the white haired man sitting calmly behind his desk. "you were insensitive again!"

"Tadashi," the man drawled calmly, "what did I tell you about slamming my doors like that?" The man shifted the paper he was weighting on to the side to continue writing on the next page. Hearing the stomping feet of his sixteen year old nephew approach him, the Takikage looked up with a scolding on the tip of his tongue but the man fell silent at the sight presented to him. Tadashi was dressed in his shinobi black slacks with his kunai pouch on his right leg and his oversized, water proof gray jacket with the hood, dozen pockets and Tanto strapped to his back; a near perfect reflection of his father at that age.

But that wasn't what made him drop the pen in his hand

Tadashi was holding onto a tiny little red haired girl about eight or nine years old, wide emerald eyes were brimmed in frightened tears surrounded in transparent white skin marred by the thick heavy scar of a steal choker. Her pink lips trembled as she bit on them, trying to stifle the show of her fear, her tiny bruised hands fisted in Tadashi's jacket and her thin scared legs wrapped around his chest as if he were a life line. She was almost the perfect image of his sister after the fall of their family island. He was staring into her too old emerald eyes, her war withered face, and her frightened, filthy shaking body was shrouded in a torn up brown cloak with enough holes and tears to almost be transparent; it was so filthy it looked as if it would detireate in the presence of water.

"Haru," the breathless gasp drew his attention to another red head, clutching a small four year old to his chest as if his life depended on it, fear shinning in his hazel green eyes. Just behind the teen stood two other guards, one clutching an identical teary eyed little girl; just behind the teen boy but before the little girl, stood a frightened copper-red haired boy with eyes as green as the purest jade waters of the healing springs beneath the great oak tree.

"Nii-san," the little girl in Tadashi's arms whimpered looking back at him pleadingly, the red head took a step forward but flinched back when the man behind the desk stood to his full height, allowing the bright morning sunshine glow over the back of his tall chair and alight his white locks in hues of sunshine copper.

"I am Susumu Uzumaki, the current Takikage of hidden waterfall," the man introduced himself, pupil-less jade eyes locked onto the boy in the doorway. "I am glad to see others of my clan, it has been a very long time."

"I am Mikio," the boy frowned at him, "the master of hidden grass believed us to be Uzumaki as well. If you intend to harm—"

"Don't be insolent boy," Suzuki snapped, "all Uzumaki have red hair, my mother said it is because we are direct descendants of the Rabbit goddess, who had red hair before she ate the fruit of the great demon tree."

"Fascinating," Mikio said in a tone implying his boredom, "Haru," he offered the little girl a hand and she struggled in Tadashi's hold, trying to free herself from him.

"Calm down girl," Tadashi ordered with a soft smile, "I still have to take you to the hospital. You and your siblings are hurt pretty bad, you need a doctor."

"Nii-san," Haru whimpered, turning teary, frightened eyes to her big brother.

"Tadashi, take your cousins to the hospital," Susumu ordered, closing his eyes in acceptance, "don't leave them alone."

"Yes uncle," Tadashi nodded and walked to the door of the office, smiling reassuringly at Mikio before leading 'his cousins' back out of the tower and towards the great Oak tree. The children were unnaturally silent as they all traveled towards the great tree, watching the villagers around them wirily, as of expecting someone to throw a rock at them or start cursing. Tadashi took in a deep breath, tightened his hold on Haru and slowly released the stress gathering in his shoulders.

"I will protect you," Tadashi whispered

…

* * *

…

Hiruzen frowned at the glaring boy in front of him, dark irises glared right back at him, the boy's pale face scrunched up and his thin lips twisted into an unpleasant frown. Just behind young Sasuke Uchiha was the young Ameko Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake; neither one appeared to know why they were to meet in the Hokage office with Sasuke. It had been quite some time since he last seen the boy, but he was glade to see he reached out to someone, someone he deemed trustworthy to bear a secret to which he demanded the meeting for.

"I asked Ameko-nee to come because she's a jonin and the only clan member you have daily contact with," Sasuke began, he shuffled his feet in discomfort, as if he was doubting in the reason of the sudden unexplained meeting. "and Kakashi Hatake is my Jonin instructor, as well as an S-ranked ninja and someone you hold high regard of."

"I do have another meeting to get to Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen informed the boy, relaxing in his chair, never denying the boy's words, "what is it?"

"Anbu agents have been casing the Haruno compound," Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Hiruzen, daring him to disagree, "as well as my own home."

"Ah, is that so?" Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, his frown deepening as he thought about which teams could be so foolish as too get caught by the young man. "Is that all?"

"No sir," Sasuke twisted his lips in displeasure. Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke reached into his shirt and pulled out a small silver pendant, a pendent bearing two familiar cressets on both sides. "Madara Uchiha had this made for his fiancé, Mito Uzumaki. Two matching pendants, both are able to communicate to each other, in case of emergency or too much time apart."

"And may I ask just where the mate to that pendent is?" Hiruzen asked, Sasuke turned his face away from him, as if his bangs could hid the feint dusting of color on his cheeks or disguise the tint to the tip of his ears. The ten year old's reaction was enough to make the old man's brain freeze as he gave the jonin a questioning look.

"Sakura Haruno, Hokage-sama," Kakashi seemed to smile at him, "considering the pendants were made for fiancées—OW!" Kakashi yelped as Sasuke slammed a heal into his toes, glaring up at him in warning. Hiruzen carefully disguised his snickering as coughing, Ameko's soft snickering and Sasuke's exasperated look said that that his laughter wasn't hidden.

"Sakura requested that you take this for now," Sasuke grumbled as he held the pendent out to Hiruzen, "she wouldn't tell me why, just that it was something you would understand."

"I understand Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen reached over his desk and gently tugged on the silver chain. When the boy didn't let go, Hiruzen locked eyes with him again, "I'll take care of it, promise."

"I want it back," Sasuke said in a voice that was more demanding the requesting, "and no one else can know about it. It's a family treasure Hokage-sama, only the clan monarch and matriarch can wear them." Hiruzen couldn't hid his amusement, with dancing onyx eyes he leaned over his desk.

"Then why dose Sakura Haruno have its partner?" Sasuke's eyes bugged out of his head, his face flushing so bright it could almost rival the Sharingan's glow.

"J-just give i-it back!" Sasuke ordered, stumbling over his words as he backed away from his village leader. Hiruzen laughed as the young heir dashed out of his office, leaving his trusted confidents' behind. Ameko watched Sasuke slam the door behind himself before turning dark obsidian towards Hiruzen, making him straighten in his seat and regard her seriously.

"Hokage-sama," she spoke so softly he almost didn't hear her, "...the men casing our homes," she narrowed her eyes into a squint and pursed her lips, as if deep in thought, "it's the same as _before_." She left after that, leaving the room in complete silence as she closed the door and stared blankly at the three faces of the village elders.

"Move a side girl," Danzo ordered coldly, his voice short and clipped making Ameko feel as if a dagger had been placed before her heart. In answer to his order, Ameko crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway, as if daring them to pass her.

"We are here for an important meeting," Homura informed her, "move a side." Ameko snorted, her shoulders jostling with the movement. "Young lady," the council member said, his voice dripping low, "do not forget your place."

"I am Ameko Uchiha," the girl spoke, her black dagger eyes never moving from the blank faced councilman before her, "I am a Jonin and guard of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. I take my orders from him, _not you_." She gave a very pointed glare to Danzo, giving him no room to push pas her and the not quite hidden dagger under her crossed arms seemed to be enough warning for the other two. The air grew chilly and tense, three black eyes refused to break connection with the others, and their emotionless masks refused to crack with the promise of a confrontation.

"_Ameko-Chan, are you still there_?" A soft brush of warm embers relaxed the three elders and Kunochi, a gentle smile slipped across Ameko's face as the familiar chakra signature passed over her. Ameko dropped her hands to her sides, making the old war vets wonder just where she placed her dagger in that second her hand was covered by her arm. The door opened to reveal Hiruzen standing alone in his office, Ameko smiled sweetly at him, as if nothing in the world was wrong. The frowns twisting his councilors faces told him the truth of the situation, chuckling at his teammate's misfortune, Hiruzen allowed everyone to follow him inside with Ameko just three steps behind him.

"Hiruzen," Danzo called just as the man in question reaches his desk, Ameko snorted, one hand flying up to her nose as if to stifle a sneeze.

"Told you his tone of voice could describe his mood," Hiruzen smiled at her as he took to his seat stiffly

"That sounded more like a curse," Ameko whispered to him, "or maybe the beginning of a scolding." They both looked at Danzo's face and stared at him for a long while, once the silence grew to the point that the ticking of the clock was beginning to echo around them, Ameko took in a deep breath and sighed it out. Slumping against the windowsill, she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, as if the gods just ordered her to carry the entire weight of the world by herself.

"Scolding it is,"

"You'd think I was five again," Hiruzen sighed in agreement

…

* * *

…

Sasuke sat up in bed, staring blankly at the humming, glowing token sitting on his lamp stand beside his bed. Reaching out he gently lifted the palm sized token up and stared the familiar inscription on the back, then flipped it over and stared blankly at the numbers residing there.

11 Days, 23 hours, 56 minuets, 30 seconds

It was counting down and he knew it was Sakura's way of saying she's coming home

_Are we ready?_ He thought, turning to look out at the glistening night sky, knowing the sun would not rise for a few more hours. He wondered how many others were awake and reading the token, were they sleeping through its hum or were they staring into its glow lost for words? How many of them decided to follow Sakura? How many decided to protect for the girl they all hated?

In the end, could any of them work together to bring the mission to a success?

…

* * *

…

Sakura stared at the deep black sky high overhead, covered in azure colored stars, the rolling mist of the cool lake brushed against her ankles like the touches of ghosts. If she wasn't standing in its heart, then she never would've believed that the Hidden Waterfall Village wasn't actually surrounded by waterfalls, you didn't even need to pass threw one to reach it. In fact, Sakura hasn't seen even one waterfall since she came to live in the bright warm village; she has almost forgotten where she was several times though. It had been a week since her arrival and just as she was getting comfortable in the hidden waterfall village, a hideous crimson moon appeared in the night sky. For the past two nights she has been forbidden from leaving the depths of the great oak tree, the night sky she was staring at was nothing more than glow warms covering the underside of the oak tree. It was a beautiful sight, one that could almost fool someone into believing they were outside but not Sakura, she's spent too many nights beneath the midnight sky to be fooled by insects.

Two days, three nights... was she ever going to leave the bowels of this ancient and forgotten tree?

"Haru-san," she blinked and turned, staring blankly at the young girl with teal hair and copper eyes, a girl she knew as Fū. "You should be sleeping, it's still dark outside," Fū made a sweeping motion with her arm, gesturing for the red head to move back into the straw hut at the edge of the lake.

"They hit you again," 'Haru' murmured, once again she had forgotten where she was. Here in this pretty village so similar to her home, she was named 'Haru Uzumaki', everyone just assumed they were of the Uzumaki lineage because of their red hair; no one knew it was because of a seal they performed two weeks ago.

"Punishment for failing my mission," Fū murmured, not daring to look at the other girl, knowing that a single look into those haunted emeralds would make her crack inside.

"What was your mission?" Haru asked as she walked silently threw the ankle deep mist, "did someone get hurt?" She asked, raising her hand slowly and purposefully, knowing sudden movements around the teal haired girl made her stiff and jumpy.

"No," Fū pressed her lips together tightly, resisting the urge to press her face into the warmth of her friend-_guest's_ hand. Haru sighed in disappointment but Fū knew that it was not meant for her, so she closed her eyes and let out a relaxed breathe as the strange red haired girl gently healed her swollen cheek and cracked tooth.

"If I were out there, they wouldn't do this to you," Haru murmured

"The moon still bleeds red Haru-san," Fū whispered, "it's not safe yet for you to leave."

"Nii-san is a fool to believe in such things," Haru sighed, "the light of the red moon will not kill me anymore then it would magically have an effect on you." Fū chuckled at her, opening her eyes she smiled at the girl as she pulled her hand away, deeming her healing abilities unneeded.

"I am not of Uzumaki blood," Fū replied gently. "Your grandfather foretold your death if the blood red moon should shine down on you, there is no harm in being safe."

"My grandfather was a civilian," Haru chided with a frown, "he's no more a fortune-teller then you are a demon." Fū tried hard not to show how much those words meant to her. Little Haru, kind, sweet little Haru, judged everyone she met based on their actions and words, not their name, status or... or their curses. She didn't care if someone was an emperor, Daimyo, Kage or an orphan; rude is rude, no totals or sums of money will still her tongue. Not even the threat of a whip or a fist could keep her in check and she had the scars to prove it too; Hidden Grass didn't like slaves talking back and that was something Haru was very good at.

"Come Haru-san," Fū smiled in the dim teal light of the glow worms, "let's go sleep. Your brother and sister are probably cold by now." Haru sighed at the reminder of her siblings, Yuki was as clingy as they came and Ren was a very close second; Mimaru was like a hawk towards his siblings, always watching and calculating; and poor Mikio always looked like a train wreck, dark black smudges have become permanent marks under his eyes.

"I'll be in, in a moment," Haru sighed, "let me watch them a little longer please." Fū nodded in understanding, she took a soft step to the side and walked passed her guest, the only girl in her small world to see Fū for who she was.

"Don't stay out too long Hime," Fū murmured as she walked towards the hut, "they're worried about you." Haru didn't reply as she continued to stare at the false night sky, watching the glow worms wiggle here and there, as if dancing to their own hidden song. At the entrance to her hut, Fū glanced back at her guest, staring at her waste long crimson locks and warm teal kimono. She stood tall and proud, shrouded in the cool mists of the healing lake of the great oak tree. For a moment, Fū thought she saw her mother standing there, pale and sad, staring at the glow worms as if they could bring back the man she loved. Fū's eyes dilated and she moved as if to chase after the woman she missed, but a sudden sound of a collapsing body and pain filled groan stopped her. Fū blinked, tears threatening to prickle the edges of her eyes, and saw that it was not her mother standing at the edge of the lake looking so sad and lonely, it was only Haru. Taking in deep steadying breaths, Fū turned around and entered the straw hut, hard copper eyes scanning over each of the slowly waking children, until her gaze landed on Mikio. For the past two days, the relatives of the Takikage had been sleeping in her humble little home, and each of those nights Mikio sat alone in a strange seal in the corner of her one room house with an even stranger scroll laid out before him.

"Mikio-san," Fū gasped, dashing forward to shake the older male. Not once in the past two nights has he collapsed from his given task, he has sat diligently and stubbornly before the scroll, concentrating entirely on his mediation. "Mikio-san," Fū whispered urgently, shaking the teen, her worry growing as he only moaned in pain. "Mimaru!" Fū snapped, the almost copper haired boy snapped up to his feet, crouched and ready to defend, "Get Haru in here! She's at the lake!"

"Sakura!" Mimaru shouted in blind panic, the cloth door slapping against the straw side, "Sakura!" Fū ignored the strange name as the boy went dashing around the hut, his panicked hobble-run sounding like the lead weights being stacked cruelly atop her stomach.

"No," Mikio wheezed, Fū snapped around to look at him, "n-not there... outs-side..."

"I just left her at the edge of the lake," Fū frowned at him, "she'll be here in a moment, Haru-san can heal you."

"N-no," Mikio coughed, his wheezing worsening as Ren gently set his head in her tiny lap, "you... you have to-to save her..." Yuki grabbed a cloth and patted at the sweat on Mikio's brow, tears of worry and fear threatening his vision. "Only you..." He coughed hash and wet, as if water were in his lungs, "you… you're the only one... who-who can b-bring her back...please..." Mikio's jade eyes rolled in his head as he passed out, feeling fear grip her heart, Fū looked urgently at Haru's twin and baby brother. But only Ren's still broken leg and Yuki's frail figure glared back at her, even Mimaru has been trying to recover from his badly healed leg. Out of everyone in the hut, only Fū had the strength and physical endurance to catch up and bring back Haru.

She was the only one who could save the girl who was always saving her

"Stay here," Fū ordered, surprised that her voice was steady and calm, "I'll get Haru-Hime." She stood and walked to the entrance, there she found the glow worms had silenced their dancing and dimmed their glow, the dark mists beneath the great Oak tree was haunting and terrifying, as if the monster beneath the lake was daring to wake.

_No,_ Fū took in a deep breath, allowing the cold mist to coat her throat and burn her lungs. She could almost hear the screams and cries from so long ago, but the warmth, the hum, the indescribable _burning_ on her back reminded her that the demon couldn't rise from those deep healing waters of the great Oak tree's lake. _I am the seven tailed demon_, she turned on the ball of her foot and ran as fast as she could towards the exit she knew by heart. _If I am the demon, then the red light will kill you!_

…

* * *

…

Tadashi ran for everything he was worth, it was nearing that time of year again and the village had been stiff all month, only the presence of their guests seemed to bring life back into their haunted eyes. Still, the presence of the blood moon destroyed whatever peace had remained; the children and expecting women were forced into their home's underground basements. Only fifteen shinobi of hidden waterfall dared to roam the village stained in crimson moon light, Tadashi and his Uncle were two of them. Hearing an explosion to his left, Tadashi dived off a roof and skidded across the dirt road, bracing his arms he allowed all of his weight to slam into a rushing body, transferring his speed to his target with a harsh slam. The intruder didn't make a sound as they were thrown away from the main road, crashing through a shop and rolling head over feet like a kettle rolling down stairs. He didn't stop to see who the intruder was, he spun and drew his Tanto, allowing it to clash against another's sword, sparks bloomed between them and he found himself glaring into a pair of haunted, flat dead brown orbs. He didn't question the lack of expression, he followed his instincts and thrust out a kick, pushing his opponent far away from himself, freeing himself just in time to avoid a swipe from his previous target.

"Who are you?!" Tadashi hollered out, his voice echoing through the crimson bathed village he called home, "Why are you here?!"

"Jashin-sama sent us!" a shadow cackled as he leaped at the white haired teen, "Now die in his honor!" Tadashi snarled as he easily parried the attack and took the surprise of his opponent to his fullest advantage, in a smooth movement he put his sword into the man's chest and ripped it out of his left armpit. Following his thrust with a graceful sweeping step to the side, Tadashi adjusted his grip and smoothly removed the man's head from his shoulder's, memories from ten years ago surfacing in his mind. After what happened to his mother and sister, it became a demand of waterfall shinobi to carry swords and know seven different sword kata's that would allow them to block and then remove their opponent's heads with as little effort as was possible. The shinobi of waterfall had become adept at removing heads without warning, mercy or hesitation; the insane cult of Jashinests found that out every time they attacked during the red moon month. After all, the blood red moon ever appeared in waterfall village for one week, during the time his baby sister had been born and later killed. Every year, during the last week of March, what few Jashinests still reminded would come to hidden waterfall and attack with everything they had—they always lost.

"Tadashi!" He jumped back, evading a strike from behind and landed further up the street, beside his uncle who was wielding seals like they were swords. "Are you cut?" Susumu asked as a wave of glowing lines flashed through the air, ramming threw three cloaked figures and ripping them apart upon contact.

"Safe," Tadashi grunted, "there are more this year." He blocked a flying scythe and sent it crashing into the ground, giving his uncle the opening to send scribbled glowing lines into the man's head, making if cave in on itself.

"They think their precious princess is here," Susumu grumbled

"Sis died," Tadashi frowned, rising to put his back to his elder, "don't they know that?" He remembered following his father out of the village ten years ago and over hearing what the cultists were shouting on that blood filled night deep inside the ancient volcano. Even now at seventeen, Tadashi still didn't understand why they called his sister 'Princess' nor did he understand why she was so precious to them. She was born on the night of a blood moon, as bright and full as any other moon of the month could be, but there was something different about blood moons. The Jashinests worshipped those born on such nights, treating them as if they were gods.

"I wonder about that," Susumu mumbled, "we never found her body and your father said that Naname took her away and headed south to lose the trail."

"You seriously think she's still living?" Tadashi asked, blocking a stray kunai

"I don't know what to think anymore," his uncle grunted as he used his glowing seals to block an attack and used another to remove the man's head. Letting the man drop at his feet, Susumu tapped Tadashi's shoulder and jumped, together they landed on another roof and started running. "Tadashi," Susumu called, "get to the great tree and protect your cousins." His eyes narrowed in thought as he felt the signatures of his enemies begin to gather before the opening of the tree, "they might be in some trouble."

"Right," the teen drawled with a frown. They raced through their village, going from its edges to the center in mere minuets, slaughtering their enemies with each landing and leap. Together they reached the great oak tree's entrance, their teeth grinding together as they saw that their enemies formed a lose crescent shape before the entrance; all kneeling one one knee with their hands forming the tiger seal and chanting religiously under their breaths.

"Damn it!" Tadashi snarled, he leaped through the air and sailed over the rows of cloaked men, landing before the entrance with his uncle at his side, Tadashi slammed his hands into the ground and let it rupture into thousands of spikes, impaling his enemies in time for his uncle to send a blast of hurricane force winds at them. Panting heavily, Tadashi whipped the sweat off his chin with his wrist, his breathing quickened and his hands shook with exhaustion. However, he didn't have the time to rest or even think straight, before he was leaping threw the air rolling across the ground.

"Your too late!" One of cloaked men laughed, his scythe returning to him in a show of loops and circles, batting away Susumu's floating seals as if they were paper toys. "Hime's here!" Tadashi cursed as he felt someone tangle his arms up while another placed a blade at his throat, a glance at the far side of the battle field stood his uncle, floating seals surrounding himself protectively. Between them was the entrance to the healing lake beneath the Oak tree, and in its dark shadows the sounds of soft foot steps echoed out them.

"Ready the seal array!" The man with the scythe demanded, four cloaked figures jumped forward, slamming onto their knees and forming concentrating hand signs, the four produced a scrawling network of ominous crimson lines from their shadows that quickly connected together to form a haunting crimson seal array. Tadashi's breathes quickened into pants and gasps, his jade eyes flickering back and forth between the glowing seal and the dark entrance of the oak tree. The four kneeling men began chanting and the person walking towards them was slowly revealed; tiny bare feet were bathed in the crimson moon light, then the edges of a familiar teal kimono, quickly followed by waste long red hair.

"No!" Tadashi screamed, struggling in the hold of his capture's, the little girl's face didn't change, it was as if she was a life sized doll brought to life. Haru stepped out from the darkness of the oak tree, her glassy green eyes locked on the bright blood red moon high over head. "Haru! Run! Run away!" Haru reached the center of the seal and stopped, her glassy eyes glued to the blood tinted moon over head, staring down at her like a calculative look of a predator. Before any of them could blink, a great gust of wind burst into being, surrounding Haru like a tornado or protective shield; forcing everyone to kneel in order to not fly away from the strong current surrounding the little girl. The two men clutching at Tadashi released him with echoing cries of pain, their bodies flying back into the spike wall behind them. Tadashi threw himself to the ground, clenching his eyes closed and reinforcing his hold with chakra; looking up threw narrowed eyes, he tried to make the little girl he befriended a week ago. Only to gasp as he found himself staring at two ghostly figures surrounding the little red haired girl; both figures were clutching at the other in a loving embrace, heads tilted together and smiles soft and warm. After the death of his parents, Tadashi used to stare at his parent's wedding picture for hours every day, wondering if they were able to die in each other's embrace like they always talked about. Granted they talked about having an army kids who would each have their own little army kids and grow old together and then lay in the same casket and be taken up into the great Oak tree by the glow worms. Right now, he was staring at that exact image he memorized long ago, the image of his parents comfortable embrace on their wedding day. With a furious roar, Susumu slashed out at the nearest intruders, freeing himself from their threatening weapons and roars of laughter. Two of the crimson seal sustainers fell with the angry slashing of the Takikage, leaving the blood red seal unstable and electing curses out of the two closest to Takashi. Gritting their teeth, the two men formed new hand signs, their faces twisting into anger as the the seal beneath Haru shifted and rose, appearing like the threatening claws of a nightmarish demon.

"Get out of HIME!" The men roared, allowing the new seal to lunge at Haru and the two spirits residing inside her. Tadashi wanted to move, he wanted to protect Haru, but the wind was too strong, if he moved wrongly he'd end up on the spike wall. As it turned out, he didn't need to move to protect Haru, a scream of fury sounded through the howling of the wind, echoing in everyone's ears. Like a comet of white and teal, a blur burst out of the entrance of the great oak tree and went head first straight through the two intruders. The two grown men fell to the ground in pieces, the blur suddenly arced up and floated in the air and for a brief moment revealed the childish body of a familiar cursed host. Then without warning another roar echoed and a tremendous burst of wind struck out passed the spike burrier, destroying everything in its path. Tadashi and Susumu couldn't even blink before the white and teal comet twisted in place and dived through the wild currents of wind, aiming straight for the still body of Haru.

"HARU!" a familiar voice screamed, time stopped for a moment, allowing Tadashi to get a good look at the comet who saved them. Fū's angry copper eyes glowed like firelight, her warm tanned skin was riddled with cuts from the wind and her short teal hair was knotted and choppy, as if parts had been cut off randomly. "Wake up!" Fū screamed, a burst of the protective tornado had her flying back words again, she easily steadied herself in the air, scowling at the ghostly figures of Tadashi's parents hovering protectively over Haru. "Haru!" Fū screamed shrilly, two new wings bloomed on her back, giving a set of four dragonfly wings. "WAKE UP!" Fū dived, her image blurring as she barreled through the harsh blades of wind, ignoring the blooming trails of blood growing over her body. She passed the first barrier, with a scream of defiance she reached out to the red haired girl barely hidden behind gentler turrets. For a moment Fū's world was put on pause, she watched with wide copper eyes as a pendent freed itself from the confines of Haru's kimono. A circle encompassed a bright red crescent moon, a soft voice spoke, warm and kind, it broke through the torrent of hurricane winds with ease. Haru's glassy eyes widened and life returned to them, the ghosts surrounding Haru smiled sadly and faded away into the dissipating wind. Without the resistance of the protective tornado, Fū's beating wings propelled her forward with enough force to knock Haru off her feet and sail the both of them into the depths of the great Oak tree. Tadashi pushed himself up, eyes wide and locked on the place where Haru once stood with his parents and Fū once floated. He knew his father had died just after rescuing his sister, even going so far as to hand her over to a chunin while he distracted their enemies. His mother had died do to complications of child birth; basically no one bothered to stop her bleeding. His parents died, they both died to protect his baby sister, only to lose the fight and have her end up dying anyways.

She was supposed to have died ten years ago...

Ignoring the cry of his uncle, Tadashi barreled into the darkness of the great oak tree, disappearing into its depths without a thought on his part. Growling Susumu dashed forward, skidding into place before the entrance he kneeled and erected a great seal barrier just in time to block out a flying scythe. Through the shimmering haze of the glowing shield, Susumu glared at the brown eyed man, watching passively as he cursed and swung his scythe at she barrier uselessly. The blood red moon seemed to brighten over head, nearly doubling the strength of the man's wild swinging; just as the scythe connected with his shield again, a bright blinding flash of yellow blinded him. Susumu tried to blink the after-images of the flash out of his and focus on his assailant again but he only found the man's headless corpse laying in the center of clearing. Feeling as if something even worse then the cultists had arrived in his village, Susumu debated the pros and cons of taking the shield down and attacking his new enemy. A flash of yellow appeared on the northern most point of the spike wall, quickly followed by the rushing forms of cloaked figures, but those dozens of psychopaths couldn't stand against the brilliant dancing of yellow sparks.

"Powerful isn't she?" Susumu nearly had a heart attack at the sound of a voice behind him, "relax old man," the masculine voice chuckled, "we're allies not enemies... well, unless you attack us and turn us into your enemies." Susumu clenched his jaw tight, frustrated that his sensing abilities fail in detecting the strange man behind him and the dancing golden sparks before him.

"No need to be so stiff," the man chuckled, "though I suppose I can understand." Susumu glanced over his shoulder but he couldn't see the anything in the darkness of the entrance. "We were traveling further south when we heard about your blood moon problems. So we came running over to lend you aid."

"Why?" Susumu questioned, trying and failing to focus on the man's chakra signature but only grew more frustrated as it continued to elude him. He knew that the man was concealing his signature but usually when he figured that out about his opponent he never had a problem finding it. Yet this stranger, this possible threat to his family, remained elusive; as if he was only an image of a man he needed to see.

"Because we're allies," the man answered simply, "well, our villages are."

"I am the Takikage of hidden waterfall," Susumu growled, "there are few villages we've allied with."

"Ah, in that case, Hokage-sama sends his regards," the man replied, as if he was but wasn't surprised by Susumu's words. With that the sparks of yellow disappeared and so did the man's presence behind him, stiffening at the disappearance of two allies(?), Susumu quickly searched his surroundings for the two strangers. Two Ackers in front him, atop the tallest spike of the wall, stood two shadowy figures, crystalline white moon light shown over them, as if the slaughter of his enemies cleansed the moon of its ominous crimson hue. With the pure white moonlight on their backs, Susumu was able to tell that the man he spoke to was tall with long blood red locks and wore a mask of a smiling fox. His partner appeared to be a woman, a woman who shared a haunting resemblance to his dead baby sister; with the exception of having deep midnight hair instead of Rukia's flame red. The woman raised a hand, whispered softly into the wind and with the drop of her hand, shattered the spike wall like it was a sand tower; revealing his unharmed village and the mountain of headless corpses.

"May your village prosper in joy and strength," that was what the woman whispered before she disappeared into a blinding show of dancing lights

…

* * *

…

Several hours later

…

* * *

…

She stared at the aqua stars overhead, soft tears falling out of her eyes as she stared and stared, the boy beside her continued to sob himself, huddled up into a little ball as if he were seven again. Ten years ago he followed his father out of the village and found himself in the middle of a battle between his village and a cult of massacring cultists. He quickly learned how to defend himself and became even faster in his ability to dismember his enemies, he had his first kills that day but it did nothing to save his mother or spare his baby sister. Even now, so many years later, after the reveal of her existence and their relation, she still left them. She left behind nothing of her identity and nothing of her presence, as if she had never entered their village, never met them, never spoke to them...

As if she never freed them from themselves

"HARU!" Fū screamed shrilly, her voice echoing in the cave beneath the great oak tree. It sounded like broken glass, shattering the calmness of the sacred depths of great oak tree as if the tree itself was echoing her sadness and grief. Tadashi cringed at the echoing, his memories surfacing to haunt him once more, taunting him for his failures. The insects high overhead reacted, they pulled together and started to droop, drawing the two grieving children's attention, making them watch as the glowing insects slowly started to drop lower and lower, their comrades from the further reaches crawling closer and closer so that the drooping glow worms could hang lower and lower. It was as if the night sky was shrinking into a single point, drawing that small point closer and closer to Fū and Tadashi, like a glowing finger reaching out from beneath the great oak tree. The children sniffed and watched, wondering what the strange glowing creatures were doing, and when the worms got close enough, just a foot or so from their faces, the worms wiggled into a compact shape, showing them the sleepy smiling face of a child they knew well.

"Haru," Fū whimpered, before growing angry and shouted defiantly at the insects, "she's not dead you stupid bugs!" the worms flinched back, the face of her friend disappearing into their mass, the drooping mass pulled back and turned towards the lake.

"Nice going Fū," Tadashi grumbled, watching the bugs shift and move towards the center, "now they're going to drown and the tree is gonna die."

"Like I care," Fū sniffed, but the insects didn't touch the smoky surface of the healing lake, instead they simply hovered over its center, as if peering inside its depths. "Stupid worms!" Fū screamed again, her voice echoing in the darkness, "You're supposed to make us feel better not worse!"

"Be quite Fū," Tadashi ordered as he climbed to his feet, "I think they're trying to show us something." Fū sniffed, whipping her nose on her sleeve she stood up and stared out over the misty waters of the healing lake, wondering what their glow worms were doing. "The worms take our dead, devour them and give their bones a place inside the great Oak tree right?" Tadashi asked, not looking at the teal haired little girl beside him.

"Yeah," Fū answered, "the Shichibi got tired of the routing bodies in the lake so it created the tree and worms to take care of the bodies. Once that was done it continued sleeping in the bottom of the lake for centuries, its presence turning the water into liquid chakra which turned it into a healing spring. It was the Shichibi who taught my family how to use the glow worms and manipulate the healing waters." Her ancestry was contaminated with the presence of the seven tailed demon appearing and disappearing randomly, forcing her family to become adaptive to its highly purifying chakra. When it woke ten years ago under the influence of the blood moon, her mother and father decided to seal it inside of her; hoping to protect the great tree. The glow worms devoured her father for casting the seal area but didn't dare to harm her mother because the woman was holding Fū in her arms. Once Fū became old enough to enter the waters by herself without her mother's aid, the worms came down and devoured the heart broken woman too.

The Takikage said it was payment for taking their master away

The Shichibi told her it was because the woman asked them too

"Why?" Fū asked curiously, trying to distract herself

"And you control them right?" Tadashi asked instead, stepping a little closer to her

"Yeah," Fū answered hesitantly

"Great," Tadashi nodded and without warning pulled Fū over his shoulder and started running over the misty surface of the lake

"Put me down!" Fū ordered loudly, "I'm not a sack of potatoes!"

"You don't know how to run on water yet!" Tadashi replied, "quite squirming! We're almost there!" Fū grumbled under her breath and twisted in the older boy's hold to look at the drooping glow worms, they seemed to have moved to look at them, Haru's face appeared and smiled at them welcoming. Glaring at their use of her friend's face, Fū followed the insects pointed look down and stared at the smoky surface of the lake.

"I can't see anything," Tadashi murmured with a frown, adjusting Fū to sit on his shoulder more comfortably, "can you?"

"No," Fū answered bitterly, she glared at the glow worms again, "what is it?" Her friend's smile widened and the glow worms retreated back to the underside of the Oak tree, spreading out into the false night sky that they always knew. Frowning up at the insects, Fū looked down at the smoky surface and put her hands together in a familiar hand sign.

The mist cleared and they were bathed in violet light

"Oh," Fū gasped in awe

"I see," Tadashi murmured, a smile slipping onto his face as he stared into the light unafraid

…

* * *

…

Speeding through the night, the team dared not breath a word, their focus was entirely on their destination that was still too far away. Beneath their cloaks shown their glistening teal kimonos, dark kunai pouches, and tan back pouches containing seal scrolls, which all held a certain amount of healing water from Hidden waterfall. The team of five remained in single file, racing with all the strength they could muster, their wounds from hidden grass long since gone thanks to the healing lake. Still, they were too far from their destination, they never should have gone to hidden waterfall but that was one of the mysterious hidden villages they hadn't visited and they needed to confirm their allegiance in this war that brought them all together.

A wood wielder, a crystal wielder, a bone wielder, an ice wielder and a demon heiress

Their team was a joke from fate if there ever was one

"We have ten days left," the heiress whispered, "we need to hurry, Guren, Haku." Without complaint they both formed hand signs and created a great scaly dragon, as one the team of five launched themselves into the air and landed onto the roaring creature. Without warning an arrangement of bone spikes converged over the spine of the dragon, creating a wind barrier for the residents on the mythical creature's back and a place for them to rest comfortably.

"With this we'll reach Konoha by morning," Mikio murmured, "rest up Hime, you'll need it to gather the others."

"Understood," strawberry pink locks fluttered in the wind as she curled into the curve of a bone spike. She pulled her cloak tight around herself and poured a warm stream of emerald chakra into the pendent, the feeling of embers warmed the growing cold of her hand. "Hokage-sama, its time," she whispered to the glowing pendent, "I hope everything's ready."

"_You have less then ten days to find, rescue and bring back Ami Nanami_," the old withered voice of her commander whispered back to her, "_can you complete this task in time_?"

"...Shikamaru and Sasuke," Sakura whispered, "they're already moving, aren't they?"

"... They sent out the message this after noon," Hiruzen sighed, rubbing at his brow, "they'll meet you one mile south of your training grounds." He glanced at the group of irate parents standing in his office, listening to the conversation silently, "apparently those who chose to aid you left a note to their parents."

"…_They're listening in aren't they_?" Sakura's voice sounded, soft and gentle like a whisper of a breeze

"Yes," Hiruzen answered tiredly, "so is the council."

"…_Have you heard from my father Hokage-sama_?" Sakura asked, clearly trying to change the subject

"I'm here Mesume," Kizashi piped up, "can you hear me?"

"_Yes_," Sakura's voice sounded in confusion, "_have you traced Ami's location already_?"

"…no," Kizashi answered slowly, "Was I supposed to?"

"_Kai-nii was supposed to ask you to search for her_," Sakura frowned to herself, wondering why her cousin never delivered the message, "_he was supposed to escort Karin Uzumaki and her mother to village with Ai-chan. Isn't he there_?"

"No Mesume, he's not," Kizashi pinched his brown in irritation, "I will search for him and bring him back though."

"..._Did he take your mission, Otou-san_?"

"It would appear so," Kizashi agreed in a tone of annoyance, "I'm glad I sent Ai-Chan after him. I knew he was hiding something but..." He sighed heavily, gently patting the hand of his wife and sharing an exasperated look with his sister.

"_Then please protect the village_," Sakura requested, "_with Kai-nii and Ai-nee at our side our chances of survival have quadrupled_."

"We're coming too!" several irate adults snapped out

"_No_," Sakura responded calmly, "_Ami is our responsibility. She is our classmate, our ace, our sister, __our responsibility__. Those idiots took her away from us, so we'll hunt them down and take her back_."

"You're just children!" Tsume barked loudly, already knowing that her own daughter and son had long since left to join the fight, "leave this to us adults! We can find her!"

"_We already have_," Sakura replied, silencing the group, "_our sources appear to be better than your own. Now let us prove to her that she is one of us_."

"What do you mean?" Shikaku asked, interrupting Tsume before she could give in to a screaming fit

"_Ami Nanami has never believed herself to be an Advanced Ace_," Sakura explained, "_Let us prove to her that she is by going after her. If you interfere we will prove nothing and the prophecy will come true_."

"what prophecy?" Danzo's voice sounded hard cold to Sakura's ears, her eyes narrowed at the pendent, not sure how to treat the man who questioned her.

"The one of bloodshed and annihilation," Sakura answered, "you who kill without thinking, _considering or calculating the consequences of your actions have no right to chase after Ami Nanami_." The parents ground their teeth in frustration, their fists shaking at their sides, "_Ami is our responsibility_-"

"You're ten year old children!" Inoichi shouted, his voice echoing in the room

"..._Now you will learn our fear when you leave us behind_," Sakura replied, "_we have inherited your problems, your treaties, your enemies and your wars. How can we grow if you continue to hold our hands_?"

"You don't understand the situation child," Homura barked at her, "this is more then your inheritance—"

"_Naruto Uzumaki_," her voice was soft and gentle but it put a verbal blade to the elder's throat, "_is he a weapon or a shield? What purpose dose it serve to have him bound and chained like a wild animal in the depths of your darkest cells_?"

"How dare you, you insolent—"

"_All children of the advanced class know, accept, and welcome the boy you chose to ridicule and hate_," Sakura continued, "_we've all known for a very long time. This is why we've deemed you unfit to save one of our own_."

"Who are you to question lord Hokage?" A chunin snarled, "how dare you insult him! You have no right to—"

"_I am Sakura Uzumaki_," her voice was sharp and clear, like a knife ready to cut. "_I am Rukia Uzumaki and Takaoka Mizushima's only daughter, Rukia was the rightful heiress of the Uzumaki clan, Takaoka was the previous Takikage of hidden waterfall. I am descended from the clan who hails from the great Moon goddess Kagura. I am a princess of the Uzumaki clan, heiress of a hidden village, wielder of three elements and negotiator of the five nations. I have brought every wondering clan to a hidden village and established peace between the nations, as well as formed the army that'll clean up YOUR mess. I should be the one asking __you__, why your questioning __me_."

The room was silent as the pinkette continued to speak, the air growing colder and colder as her voice grew in volume. She did not shout at them, but the once shy spoken girl they knew had stepped aside to let this stranger with the voice of the moon speak in tones of anger and disappointment. Still, despite their wounded prides, growing worry and anger; none of the present adults could refute the child scolding them.

"There isn't need much time left Sakura-Hime," Hiruzen murmured in the growing silence of his office, "I sent the Jonin instructors after your group."

"_That's acceptable,_" Sakura said thoughtfully, "_Ah, I'll give everyone a present, hold on._" Hiruzen was about to question her but before he could ask his question, there was an explosion that shook the earth and echoed in people's chests. Snapping around in his chair, Hiruzen stared out at the billowing cloud of dark smoke, his heart beat increasing as he watched many of his shinobi dash to the location but he didn't need their swarms to know the location of the smoke. It was the training ground of the advanced students, the one they were always tested in and the one they all first meet in. through the darkness of the night, the crowd of rushing shinobi and the thick dust of the earth, he could see something familiar glowing in the moonlight.

"Whoever falls shall appear there, Hokage-sama," Sakura smiled as she turned in her seat to look at the shrinking image of her village, "from there you can extract them and give them medical aid. I will not under any condition allow anyone to die."

"_Thank you Sakura-chan,_" Hiruzen's voice whispered to her, "_thank you._"

...

* * *

...

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**Page 18**


	34. Chapter 34

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 34: meet up in the forest of death

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

It was time, _finally_ time

She stood atop the spine of the dragon, arms spread wide, eyes closed and smile content as she breathed in the cold morning air. She was so high in the sky she could see the curvature of the earth, feel the effects of the icy too-thin air struggling for warmth in her lungs and hear the whispering of the sun struggling to rise on the horizon. She opened her eyes and smiled, she could feel the sluggish feeling of ice threaten to seal her eyes closed for eternity. Hearing a soft whimper and shuttering gasp, Sakura glanced down at her four companions. Haku appeared fine with the almost freezing temperatures of the sky, it appeared that it was only the thin air supply that was having any kind of effect. Guren encased herself in crystal to secure the body heat she had but had spinning eyes because she forgot about the importance of air. Kimimaru was smart enough to allow breathing holes in his bone armor, it kind of wasn't fair that his body already ran at a higher temperature then everyone else so the cold temperatures had no effect on him. Guren had all but climbed into his lap to stay warm before she encased her body with crystals. Tenzo-there was a kind of relief flowing through her every time she said his real name, or was it his code name?- remained shield at the front of the dragon, he and a clone were acting like the eyes of the creature, which were protected by Guren's crystal so he was protected from the cold and wind. Her pendent chimed in the wind, forcing her eyes to drop and lock in on its dancing form at the base of her neck; its soft ember glow was a forced reminder of the conversation she just ended moments ago.

Sakura didn't know why Hiruzen thanked her but she knew he shouldn't have until after the mission was completed in success

Watching the morning sun glow brightly on the horizon, too brightly for her to continue staring at, Sakura took in one deep breath and allowed the chakra at her feet to trickle to a stop. She felt the wind rush past her as she slid down the spine spike and landed beside the hole that contained her friends. A single hand sign encaged all of them between a crystalline wall and Kimimaru's strong bone barrier, smiling contently Sakura walked over to her friends and sat down beside the heat generator (Kimimaru). Kimimaru grunted and retracted his shield, allowing it to melt into his skin as if he had never summoned it; Sakura knew that it was his way of showing trust. Glancing at Haku's paler then should be face, Sakura weaved through a long string of hand signs before warm branches started growing out of the huge bone behind her. In just moments the area was warm and musky with fresh air from the dozens of plants surrounding them, Guren sleepily dropped her crystal skin and snuggled her face into Kimimaru's lap; Haku woke up sleepily and crawled over to Sakura, putting his head in her lap in a mirrored image of Guren. Sakura smiled as she she ran her fingers through Haku's red hair absent mindedly. The seal they performed was still pretty strong on them but at least Sakura had been able to remove the dye staining her hair; she couldn't say the same about her friends. They had the misfortune of having to wait until they came across the Uzumaki woman to remove the matching seals on their backs. Tenzo's reaction to the seal was quite amusing, he seemed convinced that his 'sempai' was going to give him an unending sea of teasing for it. Sakura and the others didn't understand what was wrong with the knot-work design of a tree and leaves, they all thought it was quite ironic considering where Sakura and Tenzo were born. To please him, Sakura drew a quick concealment seal that Naruto taught her next to the seal that made them siblings, now Tenzo's seal was hidden and he shut up about it since no one could see it. Guren, Haku, and Kimimaru denied her request to hide their seals as well, claiming that it was a mark of their familial bond and the irony of it being on their backs but over their hearts meant that it was their fate to meet.

"Rest Sakura-Chan," Kimimaru murmured, "I'll take second watch." Sakura chuckled at him and snuggled into his side as he lifted his left arm and tucked it around her shoulders.

"My watch isn't over yet," Sakura answered him softly, not wanting to wake up the other two, "I'll wake you when it is though, okay?"

"I can't sleep though," Kimimaru whispered back, his lips tilting down in a frown.

"You know, your cuter when you smile," Sakura told him, Kimimaru snorted and rolled his eyes, he stretched his legs out and snuggled his back into the warm leaves curling out of his bone spine of the dragon. Sakura snuggled further into his side and stretched out her legs as well, her thin fingers never leaving Haku's mahogany red hair. Sighing contently, Sakura rested her head on his shoulder and looked out at the glistening night sky still trying to push back at the bright sunlight of the new day, far beyond what she could see of the dragon's tail, she could see an almost full moon stare back at her.

"_If shedding enough tears can patch a person's wounds_

_Then there's nothing to fear, I just need to keep believing"_

She couldn't help it, the old lullaby she used to hear on the wind, it grew strength inside her heart and she remembered every sorrowful note sung throughout the long night. She used to think that it was her mother who used to sing to her but as her mother's missions slowly increased, her frequency at home during the night became less and less. Eventually Sakura realized that the voice she heard in the night wasn't coming from her mother, in fact she never found out where the voice was coming from. But it sang to her every night, silencing her troubled thoughts with dreamless slumbers and filling her heart with warmth.

"_And look up at the moon to keep from crying_

_Even sorrow attracts light_

_So I don't mind if there's no going back_

_In the future that my shinning dream sought_

_My irreplaceable feelings will keep on going_

_So I'll keep moving forward, too_

_Holding tightly the one key to my heart._"

Sakura closed her eyes with a soft smile, feeling safe in the warm embrace of her friends.

...

* * *

...

Shikamaru sat atop one of the tallest tree he could find in their secret training ground, none of them really knew the name of the haunted looking forest but it was a good place to go during summer break for a recap on their fighting styles and team work. Glancing down at the jade glowing token in his palm, he returned his frown at the slow dawn of another day. The token continued to tick down the days, hours and minutes they had left to save Ami but for those who recerved the first seat of their class years, their flow carving on the reverse side of the countdown was turned into a hint of their meet up location. Which as it turned out, was the training grounds 44, the older genin called it the forest of death, not that anyone from his class year really cared; they've been secret coming to the training ground for three years.

9 days, 23 hours and 50 minutes…

Shikamaru sighed as he pulled his eyes away from the ticking numbers again. Two days ago had received a message on his token telling him to get up and move out before the end of the tenth day and he did so without complaint. Of course he contacted the others of his year but that only told him that everyone received the same message on their tokens as he did, which meant that Sakura's mission was complete and their mission could now begin. They only had two days to get out of the village and they each did so in increments of waves, departing in each hour on the first day and gathering in their special training grounds where they all settled the agreement of following Sakura on her self-assigned rescue mission. There in that field Ino and Hinata stepped forward and both produced two scrolls, which all contained their desired clothing options for the mission. Because of their statuses, both clan heiress had specific uniforms made just for them. The girls wore blood red knee-length skirts with split sides and let her shorts beneath, with white long sleeved turtle neck shirts and red vests. The skirts were lined in two think black lines and the vest had black outlines and thin black piping. The boys essentially wore the same thing but no skirts, just pants. He was mildly impressed that the girls had the foresight to make the clothes fire and water proof but they were also very dexterous so it would be difficult to cut them. There was also the added bonus of the vests having several well-hidden pockets that contained scrolls full of emergency equipment. Some of the older students were hesitant in changing clothes but they eventually agreed and did so, Shikamaru's year surprised everyone by stepping behind bushes and changing quickly, their conversation never dropping as they did so. After explaining that they all grew up together, the older kids (well, older girls) let it drop with a warning to never do it again.

"Oi! Sixth years, get over here!" Shikamaru sighed at the brash voice echoing around them. He forgot that their class year was no longer fifth years, as of Sasuke's tenth birthday they were Sixth years, just like the eighth years were no longer academy students, they were genin. Turning to face them Shikamaru calmly walked towards his group, in front of them stood three jonin, as did the group of seventh years, eighth years and the newly minted genin. All four groups of kids stood behind a set of three jonin, none of whom appeared very happy to be out of the village, especially the group of three standing in front of year six.

"Quite shouting man," Shikamaru grumbled, "some of us are still sleeping." He made a pointed look at his classmates, Naruto and Ino somehow manage to get tangled together in their blankets, Shino and Kiba were fringing sleep on either side of Hinata. Sasuke was walking forward looking like a three year old as he followed Ameko forward, one hand clutching her long sleeve and the other rubbing sleepily at his eye. Most of the other kids were out too, from his place Shikamaru could see Chohime, Neji and Tenten from year seven; Hama, Haru and Akane from year eight; and Nia, Mai and Tora from the graduates, they were also flanked by almost every genin of their graduating class year, though it did appear as if some of them were still asleep. Shikamaru briefly wondered if any of the previous graduates of the Advanced Class could keep a secret from their genin cells because it looked like they all brought their teammates for this mission.

"If you didn't disappear in the middle of the night we wouldn't be here runt," the jonin growled at him, Shikamaru blinked slowly at him, before yawning sleepily.

"Troublesome,"

"What was tha—"

"Moving on," Kakashi smoothly interrupted, "Sasuke-san, Shikamaru-san, just when is your lovely little sprite supposed to get here?" Sasuke blinked himself awake and glared at Kakashi, as if that was going to be enough warning to stop the man from speaking. "What?" Kakashi asked innocently, looking at Sasuke in particular, "Can't I worry about my own student?"

"Not with that expression of glee," Sasuke grumbled, "you're planning to prank us aren't you?"

"I'm insulted Sasuke-san," Kakashi said mocked, pushing one hand to his chest as if his heart hurt, "I'm not Naruto."

"Of course not," Sasuke snorted, "Naruto isn't transparent about his pranking plans." Even Shikamaru snorted at that, he didn't care that Kakashi was now glaring exasperatedly at them, he would always find that sentence amusing. Sasuke yawned and rubbed at his eye, earning a sleepy smile from his cousin; they were the only two of the clan to join in the mission, no one else dared to. It was a little concerning to Shikamaru, he never saw the two of them with anyone else of their clan, they all but moved out of the compound because their new clan head made them move to the outskirts of the compound-which sat on the edge of the Nara forest.

"Does anyone else feel that?" Nia asked, her body straightening and her head tilting to concentrate on the sound

"Yeah," Hama frowned thoughtfully, his head tilting to the side, "is that..." Kakashi tilted his head back and sniffed the air, about the same time Ino snapped up into a sitting position, eyes wide and smile growing.

"It's Sakura!" Ino shouted excitedly, her eyes glowing as she struggled to get to her feet, she ended up kicking and jerking Naruto around before she was actually free of the tangled mess. By this point Hinata and Shino were both pushing themselves up, Hinata rubbing sleepily at her eyes while Kiba rolled over to his other side, only to jump to his feet when his ninken yelped shrilly.

"I'm sorry Akamaru!" Kiba bellowed, not seeing the tiered and exasperated looks of the two he chose to sleep beside last night.

"If that's going to be my alarm for the next week, someone's gonna get hurt," Hinata mumbled under her breath as she took Shino's hand and stood up. Having not heard her, Kiba continued clutching Akamaru to himself and rubbing his head against the puppy's in an effort to apologize for nearly squashing him. Shino nodded in agreement as he slowly trudged himself towards an excitedly bouncing Ino, who apparently didn't care that she was very nearly landing on Naruto each time she landed.

"Whas-AHHH!" Naruto started to wake up sleepily only to scream shrilly as Ino's foot landed on a crucial member of his body, and sent him crashing into a sitting potion, his face crashing into the other blonde's kunai holster.

"Watch it baka!" Ino ordered as she continued bouncing around, "she's here! She's here!"

"That's one cruel blonde," Kiba murmured with a horrified face, watching Ino bouncing mercilessly around a quivering in pain Naruto, Akamaru could only whine in agreement. Together the large group of shinobi-in-training watched and listened for any sign of an oncoming group but their senses told them nothing, even Kakashi seemed confused. Just as Shikamaru turned to question Ino for the location of their friend, a shout was heard in the distance, distracting him greatly.

_Oh no,_ Shikamaru though as he turned towards the sound, "don't tell me..." Far to his left, where the clearing ended and the forest began, he could see the branches shifting and moving as if something was going to jump out. About a moment later, when all the jonin present started to take defensive positions in front of the children, a familiar boy burst out of the underbrush, a large white tiger chasing him.

"AHH! SOMEONE SAVE MEEE~E!" Choji Akimichi was barreling towards them looking as if the hounds of hell were chasing him, in all honesty it was only a white tiger with another familiar boy ridding it calmly.

"What a drag," Shikamaru grumbled as he stepped forward, "damn, how am I supposed to explain all this to him now?"

"SHIKAMARU!" Choji screamed shrilly, tears streaming out of his eyes, "HELP!"

"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru crouched and made a hand sign, his shadow immanently darted out faster than the jonin beside him expected and just before the shadow reached him, Choji dived to the side. Unfortunately, the tiger also jumped to the side, easily dodging Shikamaru's shadow; with narrowed eyes, he easily changed his hand sign and the shadow lifted off the ground, wrapping around the white tiger easily.

"Careful Shikamaru-san," a dark figure jumped from the tiger just before the shadows wrapped around the creature, "there are children inside." Skidding to a halt before the Nara heir was the tenth member of their class year, Sai stood up and smiled at him, unaffected by the glared given to him. He was dressed in the same blood red vest as everyone else in his year but he decided to keep his black slacks, like older genin chose too. Ino and Hinata had only had enough uniforms for the sixth to eighth years, so the graduated Advanced Class were stuck with only their badges on their left arms as a symbol of who they are. The others didn't seem to mind that they didn't get uniforms, they were just glad they had a way of telling their academy friends from their enemies; even the Jonin said that the sixth years were 'cute' with their matching uniforms.

"Sai," Shikamaru said evenly, "care to explain?"

"Yes, I left this morning to find food and I came across these four instead," Sai answered simply, "I planned to catch all four and have the tiger return to Konoha but I'm afraid that the fat one went this way instead."

"What?!"

"Nothing!" Shikamaru snapped back, sighing heavily as Choji flopped his head down on the dirt ground again, panting heavily as Hinata crouched next to him, and her face plopped into her hands. "Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, resisting the urge to pinch his brow as he had seen his father do from time to time, "Release the other three Sai." The pale skinned boy blinked at him in his show of surprise before making a simple hand sign and having the tiger exploded, which resulted in three ink covered newly-minted fourth years. The brunet heir sighed heavily as he recognized them instantly, Shikamaru glanced towards Naruto but saw that the blonde was still too preoccupied with arguing with Ino to realize his little stalker had appeared nearby.

"Ewww! Gross!" one boy whined loudly

"Ow~" the one with ink covered glasses coughed

"Morons! I told you not to use that kunai knife!" A familiar little eight year old girl with pigtails snarled at them, looking like she was ready to launch herself at them

"Moegi-Chan," Shikamaru sighed heavily at the sight of the familiar girl, "Konohamaru, Udon, what are you three doing here?"

"I came because I knew you'd be going to Sakura-nee!" Moegi bellowed out first, then glared spitefully at the two boys, "I don't know about them, they were already in the tiger when I got eaten."

"You need to go home," Kakashi said, frowning at the children, "we'll have Sai-kun escort—"

"No!" Moegi shouted defiantly, "I didn't train all year just be sent back now!"

"You're still a kid," Kakashi frowned, carefully dodging around the obvious crowd of children surrounding him, "not even a fifth year. You're not ready to leave the village."

"But I—"

"Konohamaru-sama you should know better than to leave the village," Kakashi turned his attention towards the pouting brunet, ignoring the glare of the orange haired girl at his feet, "you are Hokage-sama's precious grandson, do you know how many people would hurt you just to get to him? It's not safe for you here, especially not in the place we are headed."

"He's right Konohamaru," A man with a thick beard on his face said as he stepped forward, a disapproving look on his face

"Uncle Azuma," Konohamaru grumbled at the man, "I didn't know you were here..."

"Go home before dad finds out and sends all of Anbu after you," Azuma orders, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

"But I want to stay and fight!" Konohamaru said loudly

"Do you even know why we have twenty Jonins surrounding a freaking army of brats?" Azuma asked, his annoyance growing, "Each and every one of your pears are ready to die for what they believe in. Do you even know why they gathered today?"

"Of course I do!" He shouted defiantly, "it's to save that one girl!" Kakashi snorted and slapped a hand to his mouth quickly; Azuma stared blankly at his nephew, not quite sure what the younger boy was thinking. Before anyone could respond to the rambunctious brunet and angry orangette, a shout from Ino had everyone looking up only to dive out the way of a dropping shadow. Kakashi and Azuma both dived forward to sweep up the children and flash step out of the way of the object that landed with enough force to make the earth roll and give an ear-drum shattering explosion.

"What was that?!" Moegi bellowed in Azuma's ear, struggling in his hold to free herself

"Quit moving brat!" Azuma barked loudly, "Kakashi!"

"...You owe me an outfit Azuma," Kakashi drawled nearby, the bearded man was confused for all of a second before he heard the sound of retching and instantly cringed. Kakashi cursed loudly but got no sympathy from his fellow Jonin, instead everyone retreated out of the dust cloud the thing made and hid in the nearest bush or tree. Only Ino and Hinata remained standing out in the open, standing together before the dust cloud as if there was nothing to be afraid of.

"What are they doing?" Shikamaru whispered to himself, one hand covering Choji's mouth to keep his panting from being heard. He knew Ino only ever got excited when Sakura was involved and he heard her giggling about 'she's here' earlier, so he knew that Sakura was nearby. What he didn't know was what had nearly dropped right on top of them, his question was answered when a burst of power erupted from the shadowy creature and a billowing white cloud pushed the dirt cloud away to reveal a significantly smaller shape than the one that nearly landed on them.

"Sakura-cha~an!" Ino called out annoyingly, waving one hand excitedly in the air, "welcome back!" A bright blur went running past Ino, nearly knocking her into Hinata, "ack! Wait idiot!"

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto bellowed out as he skidded to a stop before the giant bone white sculpture, he thrust a hand forward and moved a wall of vines out of the way. Only to freeze as a long thin point was thrust through his neck, leaving his eyes to stare wide inside the thing and his arm dropping uselessly to his side.

"Idiot!" Ino barked, hurrying forward with Hinata at her side, "I told you to wait!" In an instant Sasuke and Shikamaru were between the two blondes, the genin quickly made the younger ones retreat further into the tree line to act like back up. Much to the two heir's relief, the cynical spear only grazed Naruto's cheek, just enough to make him stop but from their previous places it looked as if the spear had gone through his neck.

"Don't move," Naruto ordered before either boy could move, "Shikamaru."

"Right," the boy kneeled and with the aid of the shadow from the object, made another shadow enter the inside and capture the occupants inside. But when no sound came to indicate his success, Shikamaru pursed his lips in concentration and expanded his shadows reach to cover the inside completely.

"If I walk in, will I—"

"Wait!" If it was anyone other the Kakashi, Naruto might have been annoyed for being interrupted; as it was, the small group looked over to the man trying to rush towards them with another young man hanging off his shoulder. "Don't enter that!" Kakashi barked at them, "this is Tenzo, he's a colleague of mine, he was to protect Sakura-Chan for the past year an-"

"We know Kakashi-sensei," Naruto grumbled at him, "we met him when she left."

"Weirdo dose look different now though," Ino frowned at the panting male, "did he have red hair when we met him?"

"He... He seems to look younger too," Hinata mumbled

"His face was hidden behind a mask Hinata," Ino drawled at her shorter classmate, "how'd we know what he looked like?" Hinata gave the blond a blank look, her eyes blinking slowly; Ino chuckled embarrassedly, "oh right, Byakugan."

"What are you talking about you guys?" Naruto frowned at the two girls, "he looks the same to me."

"...Please tell me your joking," Ino said as she stared blankly at him

"No," Naruto replied

"How can someone be as smart as you and yet still be dumber than a rock?" Ino asked with a heavy sigh

"Hay—"

"Enough," Tenzo panted, interrupting the screaming argument before it began. "Kimimaru-kun, their friends no killing," Shikamaru gave the man a dull look before turning to look back at the entrance of the strange thing that fell from the sky, but a light pressure on the skin beside his eye made him freeze. Not daring to move, Shikamaru waited until he felt the thing retract before he moved to get a better look at the thing that nearly killed him. The thing retracted just enough to let Shikamaru turn to look at it, it even pressed against his nose lightly in warning. Scanning the object, the Nara frowned at the sight of a second bone spear sprouting out of the one that still remains next to Naruto's throat, in fact from this second spear was another, stationed just before Sasuke's heart.

"Release him Nara-san," Tenzo ordered, "or he will kill Naruto and Sasuke." Gritting his teeth, Shikamaru retracted his shadow and waited patiently for the bone structures to retract as well. "Kimimaru," Tenzo said warningly, the spears twitched before shrinking into each other quickly, the main spear sliding into the white structure almost like a blur. Coughing, Tenzo collapsed on the ground, Kakashi remained at his side, propping him up stubbornly. "You need to go," Tenzo wheezed, "Kimimaru and Guren are strong, stubborn and over protective of Sakura-Chan. They won't let anyone get too close to her, especially in her weakened state."

"Ch, just how strong are they anyway?" Naruto asked in irritation, "anyone who needs to attack by hiding behind something else, is a coward."

"I'm right here—" Shikamaru growled at him, however he wasn't the only one who disagreed with the blonde. Ino let out a shout of warning and pulled Hinata away from white object, leaving Sasuke to pull Shikamaru back. Naruto was left behind as a perfect crystalline statue, Tenzo sighed heavily as small hands parted the ivy vines and out stepped an unfamiliar girl with long maroon red hair pulled up into a high pony tail.

"Man, what a bore," the girl stretched her arms over her head, "What a loser, he's all bark and no bite," Kiba snarled at the pun, his dark eyes dilating as he watched the girl pulled each limb across her chest till she heard a pop in her shoulder. "At least we're on the ground now," the girl twisted to grin back at Tenzo, "eh, Mikio-nii?"

"Guren," Tenzo panted, frowning at the girl, "you know my true name, use it... and release Naruto."

"Who's Naruto?" Guren asked innocently, blinking big hazel green eyes at him, even going so far as spinning on her toes to face him and clasping her hands behind herself cutely. "Isn't 'naruto' a kind of fish cake? Can we eat it then?"

"Quite being a pain and release Sakura's teammate," Tenzo ordered, "or do you want to be scolded?"

"Ch," Guren turned her nose in the air and without hand sign or spoken word, pink dust burst around Naruto, freeing him from his cage. The blonde barely blinked before he was jumping back words, throwing a rigged kunai at the girl who had encased him in crystal. "Seriously?" Guren murmured, smirking at Tenzo, her eyes never leaving him as the kunai was crystalized just a foot from the back of her head, "too easy. Are these guys really the kids Sakura-chan told us about Nii-chan? They seem pretty weak to me."

"Appearances mean nothing," Tenzo drawled

"I'm talking about the weight of their chakra signatures," Guren huffed, "they're like so small they're ignorable, like flies."

"There's a little trick called 'chakra suppression'," Tenzo grunted, pushing his hands back behind himself to keep him up, "Even Sakura-chan uses it."

"That's true!" Guren agreed with a cheeky grin, "but even so, they're still annoying and tiny." She gave a sideways look to the trees closest to them, "Just. Like. _Flies_."

"I'm too tired to have this discussion with you Guren," Tenzo drawled, "Wake up Haku. The three of you need to spare before we wake Sakura for the day."

"I don't wanna fight anyone here," Guren pouted at him, "Kimimaru is still watching Sakura-chan and Haku sleep, Leave him be."

"If we want the mission to succeed the first seats need to know how to incorporate your abilities into the battle plan," Tenzo reasoned, "besides, I'm sure a few of the Jonin present would love to take a shot at you too."

"Hm?" Guren blinked at him, "But Sakura-chan was only counting on the Academy kid's right? What are Jonin doing here?"

"Not just Jonin but their genin cells as well," Tenzo added, frowning thoughtfully, "I guess none of the graduates could keep a secret from their teams."

"That or they were followed," Guren huffed in annoyance; she spun on her foot and headed back inside the giant white shape containing her friends. "I'll get the boys up but Sakura-chan needs her sleep, she's still tiered from the memories of the shadow clone we left behind in hidden waterfall." Tenzo sighed heavily, rubbing one hand against his forehead. From his clone's memories he knew they had just barely left the hidden waterfall village in time, two nights after they left the village, the insane cultists found them and tried to extract Sakura's clone from the hidden village. Suddenly receiving five days' worth of memories during flight had nearly made all of them crash land, thankfully his clone's memories were of souly concentrating in the underground house to tap into the natural chakra river that's been feeding the tree since ancient times. His clone's actions were the only reason they survived for so long and why he wasn't hit with the memory backlash so hard. Even Sakura had to take a nap because of the headache of the memories, not even Guren, Haku or Kimimaru could move for half a day after the clone's dispersal. As such it was up to him to keep the Dragon alive and moving, it was only earlier that morning that Kimimaru was able to help out with the structure of the mythical creature.

"Geeze what a bore!" Tenzo perked at the sound of Guren's annoyed voice and watched as she stretched again in the entrance to one of the spines of the dragon. Beside her was a sleepy Haku and behind her was an insect like bone white humanoid with menacing glowing jade eyes

"You can trust the children Kimi-kun," Tenzo breathed heavily, the effects of chakra exhaustion catching up to him, "Haku... some... some..." Tenzo's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was left to flop against the dirt ground like a puppet without strings. Haku sleepily walked over to Tenzo and crouched next to him, he placed a small pale hand on Tenzo's chest and yawned as his diagnostic jutsu examined the Anbu's body habitually.

"Just chakra exhaustion," Haku yawned, "we'll have to rest for a few days now... It's not safe to travel with two knocked out team members."

"Alright, Kimi-kun and I will set up camp," Guren said, with a smile, "is this spot any good?" She asked, looking back at the human insect at her side

"Better than nothing," the deep voice of an ancient old man sound, his voice seemingly amusing Guren as she sniggered at him. "I'll adjust the house, you find food and wood to burn."

"ait!" Guren cackled as she leaped away, landing close to edge she jumped again into the branches of the forest, disappearing almost before anyone could stop or question her.

"Brats," Kimimaru called, turning his attention to a frozen in place Naruto and Sasuke, who appeared to be trying to sneak up on him, only to freeze when he addressed him. "I need a head count of everyone present, a record of supplies, and the approximate skill set of everyone. Is that understood?"

"Why the hell should we tell you that?!" Naruto bellowed out, "you pop out of nowhere and attack us, now you want to know our strengths and weaknesses?!"

"Let's get something straight brat," Kimimaru's toes scuffed the dirt and before either boy knew it, the humanoid insect was behind them, "you attacked us and we defended our self's. You don't have to trust me, it'd be stupid for you to do so, but know that I would die a thousand times over if it meant protecting Sakura from her fate."

"Just what do you think you know about her fate?" Naruto asked lowly, his voice tinting in anger and hatred

"More then you," Kimimaru answered softly, his deep voice ringing with regret and sadness. It was the familiar sound of heartache and despair that prevented Sasuke from attacking the man in his anger. He's heard that tone of voice several times before, from Ameko when she dreamed of her parents, from Kakashi when he spoke in front of the memorial stone, from Naruto when he dreamed... from Itachi on that unforgivable night. Sasuke barely had the time to grab Naruto's shoulder before the blonde was spinning on is heal and lunging at Kimimaru.

"What the hell Sasuke?!" Naruto bellowed out, turning to glare at his teammate. Sasuke only shook his head at him, sighing in annoyance, Naruto decided not to attack the human-insect. "Ch, fine then! You can at least introduce yourselves!"

"Mikio-nil has already done so," Kimimaru answered as he turned on his heal and calmly walked back inside the thing that nearly squashed them from before.

"You jerk!" Naruto bellowed out, his face reddening in anger, "at least tell us what that thing is?!" Kimimaru turned slowly in the entrance way, regarding Naruto and Sasuke with glowing jade orbs, his insect face never budging as those haunting eyes narrowed warningly

"Come then Uchiha and we'll see your place in her heart," Kimimaru ordered as he disappeared behind the ivy vine curtain.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, you ugly bug!" Naruto screamed, shaking a fist at the insect man. Kimimaru's eyes peaked through the vines like a patent nightmare awaiting the night to roam free once more.

"Then I wasn't talking to you," the green eyes disappeared once more, leaving Naruto behind to tremble in restraint beside his calmer teammate.

"I'm gonna pummel him," Naruto declared, as if saying it out loud would make it a reality. Sasuke sighed and placed a restraining arm, keeping the blonde back from possibly getting hurt over his bruised pride.

"Calm down dub," Sasuke ordered softly, aware that it might not be a possibility for him to restrain the boy, "I'll check on Sakura and you check on sensei. Deal?"

"What?! Why do I have to send a clone to Pervy Sage?!"

"I said sensei not sage," Sasuke corrected in announce, "if you miss him that much, why didn't you ask him to come along?"

"Because," Naruto frowned to himself before shaking his head wildly, "nothing! Just check on Sakura-chan!"

"Okay, okay," Sasuke sighed, shaking his head as he stepped towards the strange white object containing several small humans.

…

"_I'm sorry for all of us who left without your permission but it was decided that we of the aces shall never abandon our comrades." He straightened and gave the man he called grandfather a serious look that once belonged on the face of one very angry Youndaime. "Even if it means disobeying you or becoming outcasts in the village's eyes, we will never abandon our comrades."_

"_Then go my child," Hiruzen murmured with eyes shining in tears and pride. "Go and bring back your nyph."_

…

_We'll bring her back,_ Naruto thought, turning to look up at the golden sky high over the glowing man-sized leaves of the ancient trees. _No matter what, we'll bring her back_

…

* * *

…

**Okay, I just finished this 11-3-2016 at 3:16**

**So I need every bit of feedback you can give me**

**If your confused, let me know, if there's grammar or spelling mistakes, PLEASE let me know**

**I hope you all liked this story **

**Have a nice day!**

**Page 13**


	35. Chapter 35

**Immortal's Daughter**

Chapter 35: Eternal Spring Forest… or is it the demon forest?

Koomahana

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine; you want the real stuff get off this site**

_Thoughts_

_Paragraphs are flashbacks_

…

* * *

…

She stood resolutely atop the tower of the haunted forest (which she was informed to be training grounds 44), palms up and face tilted towards the rising sun; silently basking in its endless warmth and affection. So much like the blond sitting beside her, staring curiously at a tiny teal crystal held between his thick fingers. She could tell that he wanted to speak to her but a look at her face silenced him, she could only assume it was the closed eyes and peaceful smile. Taking in another deep breath of the cool morning air brought with it a soft brush of feathers against her left wrist, a gentle reminder from her guardian. She opened her eyes and smiled at the man beside her, sitting at his feet were Haku and Guren, both half asleep; only Kimimaru appeared to be awake—even if his insect shell depicted otherwise. A tilt of his head told her that the others were awake as well, a sigh had her turning to the face the far edge of the roof. With a swirl of dancing leaves and sunlit dust, Sakura and her year long comrades sprinted towards the far edge before leap over it. Laughter bubbled up in their chests like the beating wings of sparrows and floated around their falling dance of crystals and ice like bird songs. All too soon they were landing on soft piles of dirt and leaves, giggles and chuckles still surrounding them as Tenzo gently lowered them to the dirt ground before the top three seats of years four though eight. Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru were the only ones of their year to accompany their elders and despite the day of rest she had, it was time she dealt with them before she faced any other concerns.

"Moegi-chan," Sakura greeted warmly, "why are you here? I did not send you a crystal."

"Nee-Sama from year eight had one," Moegi answered her sullenly, "she got poisoned and died on a mission. I found and kept the crystal. I thought you wouldn't want the adults to find it so soon."

"Moegi-chan," Sakura said in disappointment, making the orange haired girl flinch at the tone of voice. "Thank you for protecting us but you aren't ready to be here little one, all three of you need to return home before there is unnecessary loss of life."

"But Sakura-neesama!" Moegi shouted loudly, "I'm a better healer now! Even Susumu-sempai thinks I've improved enough to be considered a Chunin!"

"…you are not yet strong enough for our opponents little one," Sakura frowned at her, purposefully switching her address from just Moegi to all three children before her. "This mission is to find and rescue a fellow Ace from at least an army of nuke-nin. All of whom, will not hesitate to kill us should they get the chance or opportunity. _You are not ready._"

"But!" Moegi's voice was cut off as the sound of crystalline bells filled the air, less than a second passed before the loud and rambunctious orangette and friends were wrapped in thick pink crystal.

"I'm sorry child," Sakura murmured at the frozen in time children, her eyes locked onto her favorite little apprentice.

…

Hiruzen sighed as he sipped on his coffee, the early morning mist brushed against his office windows like whispering ghosts, silent reminders of his current fear and worry. The paper work on his desk appeared dull and uninteresting, it wasn't even on his mind to find a distraction to keep him from worrying about his grandson and his two friends. Of course he should've known that Moegi would've chased after Sakura despite the fact that she wasn't even close to the level of skill required for the mission the children gave themselves. While taking a sip of his coffee, a sudden burst of power from the crystal in training grounds one—the academy training grounds beside his office and a favorite of the advanced students—had him choking and coughing up the hot liquid. Turning towards the glowing object, Hiruzen carefully left his undisturbed desk and appeared besides his genin cell before the giant crystal.

"You didn't do a damn thing, did you?" Kohaku asked as she took her place at his right side, "typical Hiruzen, typical." Hiruzen ignored her in favor of watching the glowing object, smiling softly as it shifted and expanded out word. While the crystal expanded it also lifted upward steadily so that the very center stood above the rest like a pillar. On the crystalline wall in front of him were three small shadows, slowly the glow faded to reveal three familiar children. Smiling in relief Hiruzen stepped forward and placed a glowing palm on the crystal wall between him and Konohamaru, without much prompt the boy drifted closer until he was gently pushed out of the crystal and was left to plop unconsciously into his arms.

"You're safe," Hiruzen whispered, cradling his grandson close. Now he knew without doubt that Sakura would protect anyone who needed professional help, she would make do on her promise.

"Hokage-Sama," Hiruzen looked up at a young Chunin who appeared before him, white eyes pulsing in irritation. "Haruno-San has created the crystal with several layers, each one housing the images of several children. I believe that each ring is dedicated to a particular class year of the advanced class participants."

"I'm not surprised," Hiruzen smiles at the man as he turns his dark eyes towards the crystal wall before him, he wasn't surprised to see Moegi and Udon both clutched to a sobbing old woman he knew to be the guardian of an orphanage on the out skirts of the village. He was surprised to see a hazy image of Sakura standing in the crystal, smiling gently at him like an amused mother; catching her eye, Hiruzen watched as she bent towards him and offered him a hand. The gentle glow of her twirling pendent was hint enough as too what she wanted from him. Retracting his hold on his grandson and allowing the unconscious boy to be clutched by his mother, Hiruzen stood and took a step closer to the crystal, one hand digging into his pockets to produce a familiar pendent. Sakura's eyes lit up at the sight of the pendent and he smiled knowingly at her, passing his hand towards the crystal he was surprised to find Sakura's hand reach out of the wall. Releasing the pendent to the crystal hand, Hiruzen watched as Sakura cradled the pendent in her hands smiling as if she had amnesia and she just recalled something previous.

"Make sure to come home Sakura-hime," Hiruzen whispered to her, watching how her eyes lifted up to his face. There was something about that smiling face, something about those peaceful eyes that set something strange in his stomach; something that told him that he wouldn't see her again. "Sakura…no…"

"_Everything happens for a reason,_" Sakura spoke as her image began to fade, "_if they are the sun and moon…then I will be the earth._" She was gone before he could blink, fading into the crystal like a memory on the wind. Hiruzen looked up at the giant expanse of crystal, watching how the parents scattered, searching for their children in an almost blind panic but the pattern was clear, each ring was dedicated to a class year but it wasn't just the students there anymore, there were others as well. Frowning to himself, Hiruzen retreated back a few paces before leaping into a tree and approaching a significant height before looking back down again. The crystal far below him had shifted into the shape of a spiral but at the far northern point there was a strip of crystal stretching out over the ground in a lazy crescent and at its southern point there was a long ramp that lead from ground level to the tallest fourth ring in the center.

"The crest of eternal sleep," Hiruzen jumped at the voice behind him, turning stiffly he stared at the tired face of Kyoko Haruno, the monarch of the Haruno clan. "It's a forbidden seal known only to the leader of the clan."

"…What do you mean? What is the crest of eternal sleep?" Hiruzen asked softly, fear creeping up on him like the shadows of a storm building on the horizon. The black-haired woman sighed heavily, leaning against the trunk of the tree as if she didn't want to be seen from below.

"The crest is a suicidal move the monarch uses to protect the tree of power," Kyoko answered softly, "the crest requires more power then we Haruno's can retain, so we become a part of the seal; we become the source of its power. It is forbidden because it takes a few days to draw up the correct lines for the seal to work correctly."

"If it is something only you would know Kyoko-hime, how dose Sakura-change know of it?" Hiruzen asked her

"There are three possibilities," Kyoko began, "one she snuck in to the compound without anyone noticing her and stole the document from my office." He raised an eyebrow at her, that was as likely as a Yamanaka miss counting the enemy. The woman bobbed her head in silent agreement, that was an impossibility; the children she ruled over loved Sakura too much to ignore her presence. "The second is that Kizashi-nii taught her, which isn't like him because his not the suicidal type," Plus, he'd never put his ten-year-old daughter into that situation, no sane parent would. "The third option is a possibility according to our belief system but not to your own," Kyoko continued, her face twisting into a frown as she thought about the last option, her eyes drifting towards the seal on the ground far below her. "It's possible that Kaguya-oni of the moon taught her the seal."

"Do you mean Kaguya-hime the princess of the moon?" Hiruzen asked curiously, only to receive an irritated glare from the woman before him.

"yes," Kyoko growled at him, "however I severely hope for you that it was Kizashi-nii who taught her and not that demon." She snapped, her aqua eyes flaring a furious yellow. "if that woman truly taught Sakura-chan that damn-able seal then that means she's not only not a Haruno but not a human being." His surprise must've shown on his face because the spring matriarch continued furiously. "It would mean that Sakura is a direct dependent of that woman! A child hailing from the female line of Kaguya-oni and our clan! Meaning she's more demon then human! Even in comparison to us, the Haruno clan!"

"so…" Hiruzen started slowly, "is Sakura-chan a princess of the moon or earth?"

"that's not the point!" Kyoko snapped, her raised voice grabbing the attention of the shinobi below

"Sakura-chan said 'if they are the sun and moon, then I will be the earth." Hiruzen explained quickly, watching how Kyoko's yellow eyes widened comically, staring at him in horror. "what does she mean, Kyoko-hime?"

"…she… she knows?" Kyoko whispered to herself, slumping against the trunk of the tree as if she had no more strength left in her body

"knows what Kyoko-Sama? What does she know?" Hiruzen asked softly, frowning at the woman as her eyes faded back to their shimmering sky blue, tears soon leaking out of the edges of her eyes.

"The curse of the earth," Kyoko murmured, "upon the birth of the moon and sun, the earth will be tinted red and a child of life shall arise to bring death."

"how can a child of life... bring death?" Hiruzen asked slowly, not sure if he was understanding her correctly

"Because the moon reflects the sun's light and when the earth sits beneath its red glow it becomes bathed in blood." Kyoko pressed a hand up her face and into her hair, more tears streaming down her cheeks as if a horrible realization occurred to her and she wished it could never be true. "She knows she's the child born on the night of a bloody moon; which made her the child of life born who is the bringer of death."

"what does that have to do with the seal or the goddess or anything else you've spoken of?" Hiruzen asked, his frown growing as his nerves stretched out to shake his finger tips

"Everything Hokage-Sama, everything," Kyoko whispered, "it means she plans on dying before the final blood moon appears. She plans on using the forbidden seal to entrap the demon sent to possess her and seal it within her body until the end of time. She will die but the demon will never be given the chance to breath or scream."

"…she plans on dying… to protects us all?" Hiruzen asked weakly, "no, she's just a child. There must be another way!"

"There is no other way," Kyoko sobbed, "once the red light touches her, she'll cease being human and will transform into the harbinger of death and chaos." There was nothing they could do, the little girl the village knew as sunlight was going to die and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Below a shout echoed up to them and they turned in time to see two parents pull their children out of the crystal. He knew the two children as Naomi Kawaguchi from cell six and Taiki Fujioka from cell ten, they were from average shinobi families but they were also _average_ in skill set; almost painfully average. Even as he stared at the two returned children, he could see their heads were bowed, their shoulders hunched and their bodies shook; it didn't take Hiruzen long to realize that the children were crying. The crystals that were in their trembling hands were crumbling, turning to dust as they filtered down to the crystal they stood on, weeping for a choice they now regretted. Hiruzen left Kyoko in the tree, jumping down to the ground he quickly approached the nearest child crying in his mother's arms.

"She gave a choice and I—I couldn't, I couldn't go! I couldn't go with her! I left them! I left my team!" Hiruzen sighed as the boy continued crying, unable to speak clearly any further as he collapsed in his patents arms, sobbing uncontrollably. A look around at Naomi told him the same thing, they regretted leaving their team behind. These children, they were the children clueless of the dangers they were headed into by following their teammates and now that they knew, they left them behind; reducing the chances of their teammates success rate.

"Children," Hiruzen called gently bringing their attention to him, "I need to know where you left your teammates, do you know where they are?"

"I-in aaa creepy forest," Taiki sobbed, his arms tightening around his mother, "it was dark and there were big bugs and-and"

"N-Nia..." Naomi hick-upped, "she-she called it tr-training grounds 44."

"Training grounds forty-four?" one of the parents whispered hesitantly

"They'll be killed!"

"They have their teachers, right? There are Jonin with them, right?"

"Calm down everyone," a booming voice echoed out, making everyone straighten and regard the stranger suddenly commanding them in a voice that they only heard from their Hokage. Sitting in one of the trees, where he had a perfect view of the field and the crystal in its center, was Kizashi; his normally dancing blue eyes were a cold reptilian yellow and his five-parted pink hair was pulled back into a single ponytail. His normally lose fitting Hakama was replaced with an old war uniform that was still scrapped and dented revealing the battle scares that remained only on his soul. "Now is not the time to panic, I sense a powerful chakra coming towards us. We need to prepare for the worst—"

"The worst?!" a parent screamed at him, "our children are out there somewhere about to go to war and you want us to be calm?! We should be out there with them!"

"How can you talk about something the rest of us can't feel and not worry about your own child?!" a Yamanaka shouted, her face red in anger, "my son is out there and I'm going to bring him back! Kicking and screaming if I have to!"

"…just because you can't sense them doesn't mean someone else can't Inoshe," Kizashi said calmly, his voice cold enough to make the woman flinch back. "The Haruno clan are tied to the earth, so our sensing capabilities far out stretch your own. And by that, I mean the threat is coming from the land of rice patties. It smells like chemicals and snake skins and is making every animal flee from it while at the same time summoning every snake in the vacancy to its location."

"Kizashi-kun are you saying that we'll be attacked soon?" Hiruzen called up to the serious looking man

"If not attacked he will defiantly be testing our patrols," Kizashi answered, "Orochimaru isn't the only one coming, he's just the most dangerous one."

"Everyone battle stations!" Hiruzen bellowed out, "Evacuate all civilians to the bunkers and—"

"What about our children?" one of the parents interrupted, "do you expect us to just abandon them?!"

"Sakura-hime made a good point last night," Hiruzen started softly, "we, parents, leave our children here at a moment's notice, never explaining anything to them but expecting them to remain safe until our return. Now it is our turn to watch our children fight an enemy we don't know and remain safe as another comes knocking on our door." The parents looked quietly at each other, their pride as Shinobi remained strong, keeping them routed in place despite their desire to give chase to their children. "Now let us preserve our home so that when our children return we can greet them together, like the family that we are."

"I refuse to acknowledge the lunatic that took my child to a warzone!" one of the mothers snapped, her arms tightening around her newly returned child. "I will never call that monster a—" the woman cut herself off as a chakra signature slammed into her, anger, despair, sorrow and regret made her knees give out and sent her crashing to the ground in a limp mess. The branch Kizashi was sitting in twisted itself into a tangle of notes that looked like steps, reaching down to the earth as if a great weight had formed it that way. Kizashi stepped off the branch and approached the barely breathing woman on the ground, with a soft depressed sigh the chakra signature bearing down on her was gone and she was left gasping hurriedly as if she couldn't get enough air into her lungs.

"My child is the youngest of the generation," Kizashi informed the woman gently, "she is nine years old and is willing to be your shield so you won't have to fight the demon she is to face." He waved a hand at the woman's son, reminding her of his presence, "all those who cannot stand at her side will be returned to us. We should make sure there's a place left for them to return too, that is the task she gave us. Can you not even do that? Protect your village so our children can have a place to call home." He turned away from the woman and approach Hiruzen, ignoring the shinobi who were suddenly regarding him stiffly, as if they no longer knew how to man they once knew to have endless laughter.

"Hokage-sama," Kizashi addressed Hiruzen evenly, "if your people can handle the shinobi, mine will maintain the border."

"We can and thank Kizashi-Sama," Hiruzen bobbed his head, "I trust your young will remain here in the village with the others?"

"They are already beginning the evacuation possess by your orders," Kizashi said, bobbing his head in agreement

"How many dose that leave you with?" Hiruzen asked curiously

"I believe Kizashi-nii will head to our southern border," Kyoko popped up appearing beside Hiruzen in a flourish of beautiful black feathers, "so I will take the north. That'll leave Kikai and Shinai to the west and east boarders."

"With Naname here to protect us," Kizashi agreed simply, "that's two of our eldest heading out with us and our youngest keeping us in check."

"I'll send the message," Kyoko said as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, as if to concentrate on a difficult task

"Um are you two nuts? The border is huge!" one of the join informed them with a bewildered face, "it takes a month to travel from one end to the other!"

"Sounds like a personal problem," Kizashi drawled dully, "Kyoko?"

"The two are moving out now," Kyoko said as she opened her eyes, "Kizashi-nii are you sure you want to go south? Out of all of us, it's the most dangerous for you."

"I can handle it," Kizashi replied simply, "let's go."

"Children," Hiruzen called before they could leap into the trees, "you come back understand? I don't want to have to tell your children what happened."

"Don't worry Hokage-sama," Kyoko turned back to him with a smile, ignoring her disappearing brother. "Our children already know!" she was gone with another flourish of black feathers, soring through the air as her own demonic tribe were prone to do from time to time. Kyoko did not hail from the Haruno clan, she came from the Avian race, the tribe of wind, the Tengu's so feared and respected they held their own region in the demonic forests of the eternal spring. She was Kyoko Akiyama, princess of the bird's, wife to the previous king of demons Kazuo and mother to the next king of demons; Kai.

She will not let her family down

"Of course, she's a bird," Hiruzen smiled to himself, watching an onyx feather flutter down towards him. "It would explain her dark hair, as dark as the midnight sky…"

"How low has Konohagakure fallen that we must rely on demons to survive?" Someone behind him asked, Hiruzen snapped around with a snarl, ready to defend the tribe but his voice was cut off by another.

"Hokage-sama!" The voice was high and squeaky, signature of a young child and to the surprise of everyone present a child did drop from the trees nearby. Her long sunset orange hair fluttered after her like feathers, her large doe eyes were bright glowing sky blue and her bright red quipao hugged her tiny body like a second skin. The little girl landed gracefully at the edge of the field, looking like a seasoned shinobi as she hurried forward, unhindered by her bare feet and long skirt.

"I am Yurino Haruno," the little girl introduced herself quickly as she stopped in front of Hiruzen, tilting her head back to look into his aged face. "Um, I understand that I am to protect the village, so where will I be stationed?"

"Say what?!" Several adults shouted, their voices ringing through the air

"ah, you've grown Yurino," Hiruzen smiled warmly at the child, "do you think you can protect this crystal instead? I was wondering if some of your relatives couldn't help me with an idea that I have."

"Yes Hokage-sama, I'll call big brother, he should be able to help you," Yurino answered him with a soft smile. Not hesitating in her order, the little girl turned to walk towards the towering crystalline emblem. She ignored the whispering adults as she walked forward, her back straight and her eyes leveled at her assignment as if it was something she did daily.

"Excuse me little one," a voice called out as Yurino began climbing the crystal, "but... how old are you?"

"I'll be five this summer," Yurino answered as she stood atop the crystal and looked around herself curiously, "Princess shouldn't have made so many braces, now she won't be able to fight." Shaking her head the little girl crossed her legs and sat atop the center pillar of the crystal emblem. The adults were ready to protest but they were prevented from doing so as several dark figures dropped from the sky, surrounding the copper haired little girl. The figures stationed themselves on the points of the Crystal, looking like gargoyles as they crouched lowly, staffs and swords held at the ready.

"Those of the Eternal Spring Forest are a little different from the rest of the world," Hirezen explained with a fond smile, "first off their intelligence rivals the Nara's, their stamina is better than the Uzumaki's, their sensing abilities are superior to the Yamanaka, and their physical power is more than the Hyuga's and Akimichi's combined. Second their traditions are still in the Edo period in relation to our own child-soldier-acceptance level and third there are two main houses of the Eternal Spring Forest residents; the Sprites and the Shifters."

"We hail from the guardian clan of birds," one of the black-haired children raised his head, his eyes glowing yellow, "we protect the spirits of the trees, I am Kuroko."

"I am Taiyo," a younger boy chirped with a shy smile

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Taiyo's twin chirped up, smiling at his brother cheerfully

"Enough chatter children, focus," a young woman barked at them, her hair glimmering like onyx shards, "can't you act more like Youta?" The fourth child remained crouched in the furthest corner, half hidden in the shadow Kizashi created upon his descent earlier.

"Yes, mistress Kikyo!" The children chirped and droned respectively, they each settled back down in their landing placements; still looking like guardian gargoyles.

"Kikyo?" Hiruzen questioned softly, "as in Kyoko?" The woman turned sharp eyes on to him, as if she didn't like the comparison.

"Our parents were unimaginative," the woman replied tartly

…

* * *

…

They each stood in the last light of the day, basking in its warmth as the night pushed against the sun like a black curtain, eagerly reminding them of what is to come. In their center stood Sakura and her misfit group, to her right stood the first seats of the class years, to her left stood the remaining children awaiting their class assignments. She had already determined that the genin cells will remain in tack, it would be suicide to split them up now but those who had a teammate or two leave would need new teammates and she had just the group to be placed with them. She also knew that the first three seats of every class year would oversee their remaining class year; they already agreed on how the remaining class years would be split up. Taking in a deep steadying breath, Sakura turned towards the rows of children blindly trusting her with their lives, aware of the warmth of her crystal beneath their shirts. A last-ditch effort to keep them safe should she not be around to ensure it.

"Year eight please step forward," Sakura ordered, looking pointedly at the older group of academy students, ignoring the curious eyes of the graduates. Slowly the eighth years stepped forward, their faces twisted into confusion, their gray and blue badges displayed proudly on their left arms. "I have decided that each year will be placed into three man cells under the guidance of the top three students, the remaining classmate will be placed in a conjoined cell with two of your kohai's and a Jonin. Is this understood?" The group all looked together as if confused by her explanation but slowly nodded anyways, not wanting to lose any more time then they have already.

"Hama Nohara, Haru Misaka, Akane Nohara, you three will lead the three main squads of year eight," Sakura ordered simply, calling out their names in order of their rank. "Hama, you will be charged with Aya Niiyama and Kai Haruno; of course, Nii-san is scouting ahead. So, he'll join your team when you find him. In the meantime, Yua Uchiha, please join…uh…" Sakura blinked dully at the brunet girl moving to stand behind Hama, her face twisted up in confusion but what concerned Sakura the most was that no one else was moving. Blinking slowly in thought, she paused in her instructions and counted the numbers of the eighth years, only to sigh in disappointment as she saw that they were short one student.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura called, turning to look at the boy expectantly

"Uncle Shichiro forbid any Uchiha from joining you," Sasuke answered her unspoken question, "he believed that you would only lead us to death and that anyone who left would be disowned from the family."

"Heartless wretch," Guren grumbled under her breath

"Not what I'd call him," Haku grumbled

"Is it an Uncle thing to mistreat their nephews?" Kimimaru questioned Tenzo, only receiving a heavy sigh as answer

"I understand," Sakura sighed, "Hama-san, have you worked with Yumiko Hattori before?" the seventh-year blonde perked at the sound of her name, her bright green eyes sharpening on Sakura before swinging towards Hama in confusion.

"No but Kai-san has," Hama answered, "As soon as I find him, I'll be able to work out a sufficient plan to integrate all of us in the battle."

"You're not a front-line team Hama-san," Sakura informed him, "your team is reconnaissance of the northern sector. Your primary objective is to guide and protect the other teams stationed in the northern section with you." Hama didn't respond to her, just turned his eyes towards the horizon and kept his fists hidden behind himself, he excelled in battle not reconnaissance.

"Akane-san," Sakura addressed the brunet, smiling at her soft features and purple pinstripes, "you are charged with Shinobu Yamanaka," the boy pouted as he moved to take his places behind Akane, knowing full well that he would have to obey her every order to survive. "Haru—"

"I know, I protect Kiku and Hanako right?" Haru asked with a smug smirk, throwing his hands behind his head, "you did well splitting us up like this, the dead last with the rooky and a middle grounder to keep the balance. Not half bad squirt." Sakura nodded at him in agreement, "however… that dose leave Makani Homura…why can't he just join up with Hama? They work well together."

"If everyone show'd up accordingly there wouldn't be any problems with my plan," Sakura informed him, "Makani has a talent and I need him in a different cell."

"Okay, whatever," Haru shrugged carelessly, choosing to drop it after Naruto shot him a particularly nasty glare.

"Hama-san please step ten feet over there," Sakura instructed, "Akane-san please take fifteen steps in that direction and Haru-san please take ten steps in that direction." By the time the tree new teams were in their new placements, they were forming a very awkward looking parallelogram. "Year seven please step forward," once everyone was in place Sakura glanced up at Tenzo as he placed a hand on her shoulder, seeing him nod seriously at her, Sakura pursed her lips. "We're running out of time, no questions from now on. Please do as you're asked and follow instructions to the best of your abilities." The children glanced at each other and raised curious eyebrows but remained silent. "Chohime Nara you guild Aoi-san and Tenten-san. Neji Hyūga, you guide Haruki Yamanka; you'll receive special instructions in a moment. Akane-san you guide Sayuri-san; you both have special instructions."

"Year six you'll teams are little skewered," Sakura looked pointedly at her year group. "Sasuke-kun, You're in charge of Naruto Uzumaki and Riko Yamauchi. Shikamaru I trust Ino to you. Hinata-chan, don't freak out but Shino and Kiba are with you."

"Kiba-san isn't even in our class year," Hinata pouted at her, "Why didn't you send him back with Choji and the others?"

"Choji has not been able to master his family's jutsu, it's still two years too soon for him," Sakura explained, "Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru are inexperienced and have not completed the simple tasks of memorizing and mastering all E-class and D-class jutsu nor do they know three C-class jutsu. Naomi Kawaguchi and Taiki Fujioka did not have the courage to remain with us. Midori and Yua Uchiha have refused to come, so I must make adaptions to my plans and adjustments to the team assignments that I had planned one year ago."

"So, since uncle screwed up, you had to make an adjustment," Sasuke drawled, "That still leaves four other kids."

"Sai of year six," the boy straightened at his name, his midnight dark eyes sharpening on Sakura, watching how the morning sun made her cheery locks glow like firelight. "Rock Lee of Year seven, Makani Homura of Year eight, you will follow, listen and _obey_ Hana Inuzuka." She shot a pointed look at Sai, as if she expected him to disobey the silent warning she gave him.

"Whoa, hold on, how come Sis gets to lead her own cell?! She's only a Chunin!" Kiba protested loudly, "She shouldn't be a part of this mission!"

"Everyone here is going to have a part in this mission," Sakura replied, "if her presence is going to be a problem you're free to leave."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID DAMN IT!"

"Then shut up!" Hana barked back, "You three get over here!"

"Annoying adults," Sakura turned her attention on to the large group of adults, ignoring the bland looks and iratted glares. "I am unware of your names, ranks or strengths, there for I request that you each pick a team yourself. At this point I can only hope that you don't get any of us killed."

"Sakura-chan, do you remember me?" Kakashi asked as he stepped forward, "I'm Your Jonin instructor—"

"Kakashi Hateke, I'm aware of who you are," Sakura interrupted, "I'm assuming you'll take care of Sasuke-kun and Naruto?"

"…yes?" Kakashi agreed, his confused tone of voice turning it into a question

"Good," Sakura nodded, sweeping her eyes out over the newly formed teams, she quickly re-arranged each of the teams into four large groups, forming a lose crescent shape around her and her own team. She noticed easily how a red eyed kunochi swiftly appeared beside Hinata, while a familiar smoking Jonin meandered over to Shikamaru. She also noticed that she just barely had enough Jonin to cover every cell, just enough adults to make sure most the cells got jonin to accompany them; however there about three cells who didn't have Jonin and Sakura knew she'd have to keep those three specifically out of major harm's way.

"To those of you who don't know, I am Sakura Haruno, Heiress of the demonic Haruno clan of the Eternal Spring forest." Sakura introduced herself quickly, "those beside me are also heirs of their own clans. Guren Kabayashi from Cloud, Haku Yukimura from snow country and Kimimaru Kaguya from hidden Mist; they are also representatives of their respective countries." They didn't need to know that technically Haku and Kimimaru came from the same country, in all technicality, the Yukimura's were originally residents of hidden snow country anyways.

"I am Tenzo," Tenzo stepped forward, "I am an Anbu captain and I'm responsible for Sakura's and these children's safety. I am also their cell commander. Each of you first through third seats have been named commander of your team but you will also obey your superior and listen to the orders given to you by the Jonin standing beside you."

"That is not up for discussion," Sakura continued, ignoring how Kiba's mouth made a loud snap as he quickly closed it again, pouting and glaring off to the side. "Our main objective is to rescue Ami Nanami, year six, sixth seat. She has purple hair and brown eyes. She specializes in lightning jutsu but is well versed in fire jutsu as well. She is being held captive by the enemy for the past year, she will be difficult to recognize both in body and personality."

"I doubt there's a living human who could break that walking bolder," Naruto grumbled, throwing his hands behind his head and looking towards the sky in boredom. "Ami is the most hard headed person in the world, it'd take a miracle to break her."

"…Miracle's happen to be mere shots of good luck," Sakura replied, "Ami's luck ran out when Ren's twin, a master of water jutsu, appeared." Naruto slumped, his lips twisting into a frown as his brows pinched together; he wasn't the only one frowning at Sakura now. "Now listen closely and _no more questions_," Sakura gave a pointed look at Naruto, who huffed at her but kept his mouth shut. "There are four sections of the Spring village," Sakura said as she began drawing out the basic design on the ground, not even using a stick, just moving her hand over the surface and watching it shift and move in accordance to her silent demands. "Left side, primarily lead by Hama-san, you are reconnaissance. Search, discover, warn, avoid is your new motto, understand?" one of the boys opened his mouth to reply but a sharp look from Sakura had him closing his mouth again, "left-Center group, primarily lead by Akane-san, you are distraction. Don't get cut or even touched by your enemy, the consequence is death, understand?" she looked up at the group who each nodded curtly at her in understanding, prompting the pinkette to continue. "Right-center group, you're front-line, spare no one, forgive no one, dismiss nothing and attack any human you preserve to be a threat." She looked up at the group, "there are no allies in this place, everyone there, is there to put your head on a stick and eat your innards, got that?"

"That's a gross picture," Guren mumbled to herself

"At least they're motivated," Haku replied softly

"Right group, primarily lead by Chohime-san, you're back up," the Nara-girl blinked slowly before nodding in agreement, "you are also medical aid should there be need of any."

"I thought you said you'd keep us safe?" Hana asked, straightening from her place in front of her odd-ball group

"There is only so much malice my crystals can detect," Sakura answered, "it will not protect you from inanimate objects, traps or bombs. It will only protect you in hand-to-hand combat, should your opponent be stronger then yourself; then and only then, will you be sent back to the village."

"The crystals aren't perfect either, so if you're fighting someone with puppet mastery skill, you're essentially screwed," Guren pipped up, "that is the worst possible opponent you can find yourself against." She scowled to the side, as if annoyed with the knowledge of the flaw, "The crystals are nothing more than pretty trinkets at that point."

"Right group," Sakura turned her attention to the people with the fewest numbers, "Without adequate battle tactics or jonin protection I cannot allow you entrance to the village. I have no doubt that each of you are skilled enough to follow us but I need someone here to make sure back-up doesn't arrive for the enemy."

"And you need someone to snip from a distance, right?" Yua asked, smirking to herself as she leaned against her steal staff, "that I can do pretty well but I'll need someone to watch my back."

"Your group is primarily under the guidance of Neji," Sakura nodded in agreement with the older girl, "your second responsibility is the tracking of all information, tactics and movements of the enemy. Record everything and anything, even something as strange or insignificant as a shift in wind or sudden down poor, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," Yua answered before Neji could respond, earning an irrated look from the boy

"Good," Sakura nodded at the girl and turned her attention to her own year group, sighing at their smug grins and delighted expressions. "I should force you guys to be here just to spite you," Sakura drawled at them, earning snickering and pouts, "however, you guys know Ami the best out of all of us. You are to find her, capture and protect her and then retreat here. If the enemy follows, put chakra into the crystal and keep a tight hold on her. By adding chakra to the crystal you'll imminently be teleported back to the village, understand?"

"HAI!" they all shouted cheerfully

"whoa! Hold up! Why're you letting them go head first into battle and not the older kids?!" one of the jonin asked loudly, Sakura gave him a bland look, "they have more combat experience!"

"but no experience against opponents stronger, faster and overall better then themselves," Sakura replied dully, "they've only battled each other. They weren't there when that woman came for Ami, they weren't there when the woman killed two chunin and they weren't there when the woman took Ami away." Several of the children looked at the ground in shame and agitation, they knew she was right but they never really wanted to look at their mistakes the way she just laid it out. "There is also the fact that no one else in the entirety of the village can piss off jonin like they can," Sakura added, sharing a fond smile with Ino and Naruto, "they're also the most destructive brats here."

"Hah! Nothing compared to us!" Guren laughed as she leaped to her feet, "So, so can we go now?! Well can we?!"

"You are by far too eager," Sakura smiled at the older girl, "but yes, it is time for us to go."

"Don't freak out," Tenzo smirked at the others around them, "We're gonna go take flying lessons."

…

* * *

…

Two months ago

when Sakura and team were still in hidden waterfall

…

* * *

…

Deidara growled as he marched throw the dark passages, not one of the psychopaths could muster up the courage it took face the insane woman and take the girl from her. Not even Hiden could get their target from the woman, she flat out defied his demands, which conveniently made her that less liked in the cult but that didn't mean anyone was willing to defy her. With the amount of scarifies she was preforming, the constant praying and carving, she was ire and demonic even to her own cult. They were no longer supportive of her but they couldn't deny her either, she was an _immortal_, a chosen one of 'Jashin'. To Deidara the word 'immortal' seemed less like an actual thing and more like a name of a status, like being a head priest/priestess of a temple or being a 'kage' of a village. It was just a title, one that Hiden and one other chick apparently held; he knew there were three other males with the same 'title' but they weren't as highly regarded as Hiden was. To the cult, Hiden was _god's beloved child_, the one blessed by Jashin, the one born to them through Jashin's mercy, their beloved _god-child_. It was ridicules but it kept them in line when Hiden was around so he guessed it served a purpose. Still that didn't mean he was happy, even now that he gets to spend time with his partner and not a psychotic woman bent on scarifying every living person in the world to 'wake-up Hime'.

"…you're mumbling again," his partner observed, "it's annoying me."

"Shut it Sasori!" Deidara snapped, "You come up with a plan in handling that damn woman!"

"you're treating her like you would treat Itachi," Sasori replied tartly, "she can't be that—"

"She's worse than Itachi!" Deidara snapped, "She's like the hate child of Hiden and Itachi! She's _horrible_!"

"…if I have nightmares for that analogy, I will kill you," Sasori snarled

"Not if I do it first," Deidara and Sasori snapped around to look at the person behind them, Kisame and Itachi stood rigidly next to Hiden, the latter two looking like they're ready to kill. "Tch, watch your words dumb-fuck," Hiden snarled at Deidara, "Leader-sama has ordered us to collect the girl before her physical health deteriorate to the point of death. We can't afford to lose Hime now of all times."

"I thought that's what we were doing?" Sasori questioned

"We are to provide you with an escape route should the woman retaliate as she did the first time," Itachi drawled, "Should we fail, leader-sama will kill them both."

_That explains why Hiden's here,_ Deidara gave a deadpanned look at their resident psychopathic-homicidal-lunatic

"Basically, I go in and distract the bitch, Sasori, you use your puppets to grab the girl," Hiden ordered, "Kisame makes sure to cover my back and Itachi is to cover our tracks. Ruia is horrid at Genjutsu detection but the pool surrounding her can detect life force. So if she touches that pool the mission fails and you idiots all die." Hiden moved forward, his face blank and his eyes blazing like the flames from the depths of hell, "so don't let the girl touch the blood and run as soon as you got her." The group of for males watched as Hiden walked down the stone path, surprised that the man could speak for so long without cursing. They were also surprised that the man could use coherent thought and strategy use; he usually just charges in, plan in the wind, and slaughters anyone in his way.

"Hurry the fuck up, cock-sucking bastards!" Hiden yelled at them, the four males glanced at each other before following the man down the dark stone corridor. It took them a moment to reach the wooden door set in the stone wall, the only thing that made that door ominous was the leaking liquid dripping from the bottom edge and pooling before the door. "Stay here," Hiden ordered, his eyes narrowed into thin slits as he glared at the door, "don't enter until I give the key word."

"Um, how will know the key word?" Deidara asked blandly, Hiden glared at him as he jerked the door open

"Fuck you," the Jashinest-priest disappeared in a warm of moving waves of blood, a cackling from the room spilled out into the hall, sounding irely like the cackle a witch. They waited as the blood seemed to consume their lunatic-'comrade', watching as the blood wrapped around him tightly before shattering like glass, falling to the earthen ground like dust.

"Damn hag," Hiden snarled, his violet eyes glowing in the dark, his skin was as black as a starless night sky, outlined by white blocks denoting his skeletal system. "Don't defy me!" The woman inside screamed as the blood that once assaulted Hiden dived back into the room, shredding apart her defense faster than she could repair it.

"Don't take her!" The woman's voice screeched, prompting Sasori and Kisame to enter and begin their own tasks. Kisame spate out a wave of water at the woman, giving Hiden a hand as the blood was forcefully removed from the woman's body. Sasori disappeared in the pile of corpses next to the entrance, his strings were already working to subtitle move the corpses into easier positions for him to manipulate.

"Fuck you bitch!" Hiden bellowed Itachi and Deidara were the next to enter the room, covered in Itachi's protective illusion of thin air they aided their 'comrades'. The woman screamed shrilly as another wave from Kisame wrapped around her and removed another layer of dried blood, revealing pale moon-kissed skin beneath. Deidara shot one of his explosive birds out of his hands, letting Itachi's illusions hide them from the woman as they sored through the air. One went and shielded the girl from a wave of the blood that tried to swipe at her, which made the woman scream in frustration as Hiden zeroed in on her. Kisame did his best to manipulate his chakra amplified water to keep the blood from touching anyone in the room but he wasn't as strong at manipulating water as the woman appeared to be. She was constantly trying to take control of his water and it was frustrating trying to keep a hold on the liquid he summoned in defense of 'comrade'. In an instant, Sosori's chakra strings were wrapping around the woman, Deidara's explosives were removing the shackles and they were retreating hastily. Seeing a wave of blood turn directions and charge them, Deidara produced a large bubble of clay and quickly spat it out of his mouth and towards their target. Sasori cursed as the girl was eaten by the giant clay bird but he quickly leaped onto its back and let it burst out of the room, removing a section of the stone wall before it had a chance to fly down the thin stone hall beyond the room. Deidara cursed as his vision doubled, he'd never had a need to spit out that much clay in such a short of time before, that was more chakra dispersal then he was used to being forced to use at one time. He staggered back but only found another body catching him, a glance showed him Itachi propping one of his arms around his shoulders.

"Now is not the time to feint," Itachi drawled calmly, he shared a look with Kisame and they each retreated out of the giant hole Deidara accidentally created.

"I take it he's not coming?!" Kisame bellowed as he grabbed Deidara from Itachi, who's only answer was to perform an earth jutsu that sealed the room closed. "Guess not," Kisame snorted as he released Deidara carelessly and started to move down the hallway anyways, "Man I'm starved, you think one of the punks has food ready?" Deidara didn't answer as he tried to keep himself prompt up against the wall, mentally cursing Kisame in a way that would undoubtedly make Hiden proud, the blonde carefully pushed himself down the hall. He chose to ignore Itachi, stubbornly clinging to wall as he half crawled and half hobbled along the cold stone wall. When his foot slipped and he started to fall, Itachi was there to catch him, keeping him from crashing to the ground; Deidara wanted to jerk away but he honestly didn't have the strength to even glare at the red-eyed-man. Once they reached the entrance, they found Sasori fuming silently next Deidara's clay bird, Kisame started snickering at the sight of them and the rest of their organization's member-shadows were surrounding three men kneeling around a laid out prone form. Approaching they saw that the girl they saved was begin carefully cleaned by the three cult members, whipping off the layers of blood and scabs with frowns twisting their faces. Once they were close enough, the two started to separate but Deidara's knees buckled so Itachi tightened his hold on the blonde, trying to keep him from crashing to the ground.

"Thank you for taking hime-sama when you did," one of the men commented as he looked up at Itachi and Deidara, "much longer without proper food or water and she wouldn't have made it." The Akatsuki members all glanced at their leader, staring at his colorful violet ringed eyes, before looking back down at the little girl they somehow managed to save.

"…she doesn't look like Hiden," their leader drawled slowly

"That's because Hime-sama was born at midnight," the other man said as he carefully cleaned the girl's hair. "It's understandable if her hair is the color of a starless midnight sky and her skin is the same shade as moonlight. Yup, totally understandable."

"…that sounds an offlay lot like you trying to convince yourselves," Kisame mumbled, "Why dose her point in time of birth matter anyways?"

"Hiden-Ojo-sama was born during a snow storm under the light of the crimson moon," the man replied cheerfully, "that is why Ojo-sama is so pale but his eyes are the color of the amethysts. Our god, Jashin-sama, favors Amethysts. So he blessed Hiden-ojo-sama's eyes to be the same color." Everyone shared a bewildered or disbelieving look, essentially, the man just told them that appearances can lead to misunderstandings. They each stepped a little closer to the child, staring at her hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, her hair looked like dryad straw died purple.

"We'll have to take her to the women from here," the last man murmured, "We can't clean her up much more without crossing lines and they might try to kill us for that." The other two nodded in agreement, removing their black cloaks the three men carefully wrapped the girl up in two of them before using the third like a stretcher and lifted her into the air.

"Thank you for returning Hime-sama to us," the first man turned to look at the Akatsuki members blandly, "We'll be able to handle her rehabilitation from here out." The men nodded in thanks and started to walk away, keeping a tight hold on the cloak carrying their precious cargo and walking carefully so they wouldn't jostle her in her sleep. Once they were gone, the group all turned to look blankly at each other, wondering what to do after this. They're goal for the past ten months was to find and retrieve Hiden's daughter so she could become possessed by a demon and put the world on the fast track of chaos for them. Now they had her and the almost ten-year-old wasn't quite what they were expecting, she was thin as twig, light enough for a breeze to knock over and was currently hovering on the edge of death.

"Where is Hiden?" Leader questioned suddenly, as if realizing the loud mouth almost-albino-lunatic wasn't present

"We caged him with the other lunatic," Kisame smirked at him, a look from the other holograms had his smirk widening, "what? They're both immortal, so why not?" the leader blinked before dismissing his hologram, quickly followed by Konan's and the other's, "did I say something wrong?" Kisame questioned, looking down at his partner curiously

"…Nothing not expected from you," Itachi drawled slowly, ignoring the pout sent his way, Itachi carefully loosened his hold on Deidara and allowed his partner to take hold of the blonde and manipulate him towards the designated healing center. Turning away from the 'weakest' cell of the organization, Itachi quickly disappeared, only to reappear in the tree branches a few meters away, rushing away from them like a retreating shadow. Itachi jumped and leaped through the brightly colored branches of the eternal spring forest, putting as much distance between himself and the old ruins as fast as possible. It was only when he reached the tree-top village that he slowed down, taking in every view of the once beautiful village still gleaming in the afternoon sun. he walked across a few bridges and leaped between a few roofs before he reached the house he's claimed as his own; he didn't know who's house it once belonged too but not even Kisame dared to enter it. The house was smaller than the others, but it was roomy enough for him. It wasn't so different from the Anbu barracks in Konoha, the living room, dining room and kitchen were all one big room, the bedroom was separated by a single paper wall and the bath room was tucked away in the corner. Though admittedly there was only the toilet and some hand sanitizer on a shelf, it was a little strange to get used to sanitizing one's hands and not washing them, something he still did in the kitchen sink anyways. On the wall next to the bed there were several picture frames but they were covered in too much for him to bother sweeping away, he didn't feel like finding out who lived in the house anyways. There was a small opening between the kitchen counter edge and the dinning/living/bedroom area that opened into a broken porch and half formed vine barrier. Entering the kitchen, Itachi wandered towards the cupboard and pulled out a few boxes, remnants of the previous owners. After his first week in the house, he learned that the occupants of the house fed themselves mostly on nuts and dried fruit, though he guessed the various bowls of rotten mush were supposed to be fresh fruit once-upon-a-time. He did know that they were big fan of hiding things in plain sight, like the closet was built into the trunk of the tree, several thick branches were twisted together to make a counter and the floor was nothing more than woven branches covered in planks of thick wood. After filling a wooden bowl with dried fruit and some nuts, Itachi grabbed the sun drying strips of meet he had laying out on the porch started to munch away on his food. He didn't k now if the residents were vegans or vegetarians, so he figured that the number of skinned animals he kept bringing into the house was making them roll in their graves.

"Yo Itachi! I caught some fish!" Itachi stood up and leaned against the porch railing, looking down at a drenched Kisame who was grinning widely like a child, "Wanna have lunch with me?!" In answer, Itachi lifted one of the strips of dried meet from the railing and flung at the giant blue man, watching in mild amusement as it slapped the man dead center of his face. "What the hell man?! I'm trying to make peace here!"

_For what?_ Itachi thought with a raised eyebrow, Kisame removed the piece of meat from his face and glared up at him

"For making you deal with Deidara!" Kisame answered his silent question, "you both are the two youngest members of Akatsuki but you act like a coup of rabid dogs chasing the same cat!" Kisame cursed as another well aimed piece of meat slammed into his face, making his neck ache as his head was thrust back words with the force of the food. "We are not having a food fight!" Kisame bellowed at him, flinging the piece of meat back at Itachi, only to stiffen as a branch reached up and caught it before throwing it back at Kisame. The giant cursed as he barely managed to dodge in time, his blue face paling slightly as he stared at the mini-crater the strip of meat created upon landing. Itachi straightened with the development, his red eyes widening slightly as the branch returned to its previous placement just under him, as if it had never moved.

"Damn it! That's why I don't like you being up there!" Kisame raged, "I can't hit you!"

"really?" _you can't hit me anyways,_ Itachi thought as he stared blandly back at his partner

"Don't give me that look!" Kisame bellowed, "I can hit you, if you hold still for ten seconds!"

_You need ten seconds to hit me?_ Itachi snorted and went back inside, absentmindedly ignoring the curses flung his way by his blue partner. Itachi went back to his meal, eating silently before retiring to the large bed of feathers sitting silently in the back of the room. Allowing himself to uncharacteristically flop onto the feather bed, Itachi allowed his eyes to drift close and his mind to clear of any thoughts.

Soon enough he was asleep in warm bed of the strange house hidden away in the high branches of a tree

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**Page 19**


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